Washington (3-6 straight up, 3-6 against the spread) star quarterback Jayden Daniels is out indefinitely after dislocating his left elbow in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s 38-14 loss vs. Seattle as a three-point home underdog.
“I’m gutted by it,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said after the game.
It hasn’t been officially announced that Daniels is done for the season, but I’ll be surprised if he’s in uniform again this year.
After a dream season in 2024 when Daniels led Washington to the NFC Championship Game and won NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, everything has gone wrong for the Commanders in 2025. They’ve now lost four games in a row and five of their last six both SU and ATS, including three consecutive defeats by margins of 22, 21 and 24 points.
Per TruMedia, Daniels was hit 14 times by the Seahawks last night. He faced pressure galore all night, but Quinn still had him in the game trailing by 31 points in the final stanza.
Daniels missed back-to-back games in September after getting injured in a Week 2 loss at Green Bay. He also missed a 28-7 loss at Kansas City in Week 8.
In six games this season, Daniels has completed 105-of-168 passes (62.5%) for 1,184 yards with an 8/2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He also has 262 rushing yards, two touchdowns and a 4.9 yards-per-carry average.
Daniels connected on 16-of-22 throws for 153 yards with one interception vs. Seattle. He had 51 rushing yards and one TD on 10 attempts.
In 17 regular-season games as a rookie in 2024, Daniels completed 69.0 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards with a 25/9 TD-INT ratio. He added 891 rushing yards, six TDs and a 6.0 YPC average.
In three postseason games, Daniels completed 75-of-114 throws (65.8%) for 822 yards and five TDs with only one interception. He had 135 rushing yards and one TD on 35 carries for a 3.9 YPC average.
Expectations were extremely high this year after the club added a playmaker in WR Deebo Samuel, who was entering a contract year, and traded for Laremy Tunsil, a five-time Pro-Bowl offensive tackle. However, nothing has gone right since Washington beat the Chargers 27-10 as a three-point road underdog to improve to 3-2 both SU and ATS on Oct. 5.
QB Marcus Mariota will get his fourth start of the season when Washington plays host to Detroit this Sunday. As of Monday afternoon, most books had the Lions listed as 8.5-point road favorites with a total of 49.5. The Commanders were +350 on the money line.
Mariota has completed 56-of-88 passes (63.6%) for 639 yards with a 4/4 TD-INT ratio. He has 122 rushing yards and one TD on 18 totes for a 6.8 YPC average.
In three games during the 2024 campaign for Commanders, Mariota connected on 34-of-44 throws (77.3%) for 364 yards and four TDs without an interception. He added 92 rushing yards and one TD, averaging 5.1 YPC.