When Jayden Daniels was ruled out ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, I was personally confident in Mariota and the Commanders offense despite the fact that, usually, facing an opportunistic defense with a backup quarterback under center can be a recipe for white-knuckle football in Washington.
As it turned out, I was right about veteran Marcus Mariota.
He stepped into the huddle and delivered the kind of poised, veteran leadership this coaching staff envisioned when they kept him aboard. The NFL recognized his efforts on Tuesday, officially naming him a nominee for the FedEx Air Player of the Week.
To my eye, Mariota’s command of offensive coordinator David Blough’s scheme was steady from the opening whistle. He finished Sunday’s 33–31 thriller completing 19 of 31 passes for 183 yards, three touchdowns, and crucially, zero turnovers—good for a sharp 110.0 passer rating. Along the way, he also surpassed 18,000 career passing yards, joining an exclusive club of active NFL signal-callers to reach that milestone.
It marked Mariota’s first three-touchdown outing since Week 8 of the 2022 season. Whether it was threading an 11-yard strike to Treylon Burks, flipping a screen out to Rachaad White, or improvising off-schedule to find Terry McLaurin for an acrobatic 30-yard score down the sideline, Mariota consistently took what the defense surrendered and protected the football in high-leverage spots. Blough kept the game plan balanced and in rhythm, and Mariota executed it to perfection.
We saw flashes of this caliber of play last season when Mariota stepped in against Carolina, completing 78% of his passes to preserve a blowout victory. On Sunday, however, Washington needed (almost) every single one of those 33 points to hold off Seattle.
Voting for the FedEx Air & Ground awards is open to fans online through Wednesday afternoon. Regardless of whether Mariota takes home the trophy over his fellow nominees, having a backup who can step onto the field and pilot a 30-plus point victory is a luxury few franchises enjoy.
See More:
* [General](/general)
* [Washington Commanders News](/washington-commanders-news)