LANDOVER, Md. — Marcus Mariota replaced injured rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels early in the second quarter, Dante Fowler returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and the Washington Commanders routed the Carolina Panthers 40-7 on Sunday.
Concern over Daniels’ status overshadowed the victory after the No. 2 pick and offensive rookie of the year favorite left with a rib injury. His mother posted on social media that “he’s fine,” and given the lopsided score, it would have been more surprising if Daniels returned, and the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner spent the second half on the bench chatting and laughing with teammates.
The Commanders (5-2) did just fine without him for a vast majority of the game after he had a 46-yard run and completed a couple of passes on their opening possession. They already led at that point thanks to Fowler’s pick-6, Andy Dalton’s first of two interceptions, the second by Emmanuel Forbes, who returned from being a healthy scratch last week.
The defense dominated, allowing 180 yards, stopping seven of 10 third-down chances and sacking Dalton twice.
With Mariota running the show, Washington chugged along and racked up 421 yards against the Panthers (1-6), who allowed the most points through of any team in the Super Bowl era through the first six games of a season. Mariota was 18 of 23 for 205 yards with TD passes to tight ends Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott.
Brian Robinson Jr. also ran for a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, which caused him to miss the game last week at Baltimore — his team’s first loss since the opener. The 27-point halftime lead was the franchise’s biggest since being up 28-0 on Dallas on Dec. 18, 2005.
Carolina’s lost season continued five games into Dalton supplanting 2023 No. 1 pick Bryce Young as the starting QB. Dalton finished 11 of 16 for 93 yards, and Young entered in mop-up duty with 4:55 left, completing two passes for negative yardage.
Chuba Hubbard was limited to 52 yards on 17 carries after averaging averaging over 100 over the past four weeks. He ran for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter long after the outcome was decided and fans who were doing the wave earlier long departed to beat the traffic.
Panthers: RB Raheem Blackshear left with a shoulder injury from a kickoff return midway through the third quarter. … TE Tommy Tremble (back) was inactive after being listed as questionable.
Commanders: In addition to losing Daniels, rookie LT Brandon Coleman was concussed in the first half.
Panthers: At Denver next Sunday.
Commanders: Host Chicago next Sunday.
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