Commanders step up following Jayden Daniels' injury against Panthers

Daniels' injury — which, per his mother, is not significant — forced the team to prove itself without him. The rest of the squad passed that test with flying colors, as veteran backup Marcus Mariota led Washington's offense to its final 30 points. Mariota went 18-for-23 for 205 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses while also rushing for 34 yards.

The Commanders' defense stepped up, too, and in fact provided Washington with a 7-0 lead before its offense had even taken the field. That was courtesy of a pick-six by Dante Fowler Jr., one of the team's many offseason free-agent acquisitions. The Commanders later intercepted Panthers QB Andy Dalton a second time, with maligned 2023 first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes Jr. earning himself a solid confidence booster.

It was a total team effort across the board. Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown, and Terry McLaurin caught six passes for 98 yards. Zach Ertz hauled in a score, and both Fowler and Frankie Luvu were able to earn sacks. It's worth noting that the Commanders' defense is also playing without its heart and soul, as Jonathan Allen was placed on injured reserve last week with a season-ending pectoral tear.

Even once the Commanders' first-teamers were done for the day, the backups kept the rout going. Jeremy McNichols rushed seven times for 42 yards in the late stages, and rookie TE Ben Sinnott caught his first-career pass, which happened to be for a touchdown. The only slip-up came when Washington's defense allowed a late score to Carolina RB Chuba Hubbard, with the Panthers still playing their starters while the Commanders had mostly reserves in the game.

Of course, this all comes with the condition that the Panthers hardly register as an NFL-level opponent, quite possibly the worst team in the league at 1-6 with a point differential of minus-133. For a counterpoint, though, the Commanders now own the NFL's best mark in that category at plus-66. It's quite possible that even at 5-2, Washington is better than its record shows.

All in all, hats off to Dan Quinn, Kliff Kingsbury and the rest of the Commanders' coaching staff for their "next man up" mentality and to the players for executing in Daniels' absence. As long as Daniels is able to rest up and return to the field against Chicago on Sunday, this past weekend's performance was a massive team-building win.