Marcus Mariota leads Commanders past Sam Darnold, Seahawks in first start after Jayden Daniels' injury

Marcus Mariota had no problem filling in for Jayden Daniels .

Mariota led the Washington Commanders to a huge 33-31 upset win over Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks at Northwest Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The win marked the team's first of the season, and stopped what would have been its worst start to a campaign since 2019. It was also Mariota's first start since taking over for Daniels, who went down last week with a gruesome elbow injury.

The win was made possible only after Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw a rough interception to Kain Medrano right at midfield as Seattle was trying to mount a game-winning drive. Medrano then ran it back untouched to put the Commanders up by two scores for a second time in the second half.

Mariota looked solid for Washington on Sunday. He went 19 of 31 for 183 yards and threw three touchdowns early to give the Commanders a two-score lead in the third quarter. Mariota found Rachaad White for a 6-yard score in the first quarter, and then he hit Treylon Burks for an 11-yard touchdown in the second.

His best touchdown pass came early in the third quarter. Mariota, after scrambling out of the pocket, expertly found Terry McLaurin for a 30-yard score. That put Washington up 24-10 at the time.

Darnold and the Seahawks rallied and tied the game early in the fourth quarter after an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba . It marked his second of the day, after his 1-yard score in the second quarter, and sixth of the season.

But after a late field goal and the pick 6, the Seahawks comeback started too late. A final touchdown, a Cooper Kupp score on a drive that took just 66 seconds, brought the Seahawks back within two. But Mariota and the Commanders held on to seal the two-point win. Mariota scrambled for 9 yards on a deep third down on the final drive to keep the clock moving.

Darnold went 31 of 45 for 379 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss for Seattle. He made it back onto the field this week after missing last week's victory over the Arizona Cardinals due to a glute injury he suffered in Seattle's season-opener. Smith-Njigba had 128 yards and two touchdowns on 10 catches. The loss was the first of the season for the Seahawks.

McLaurin had 77 yards on six catches for the Commanders, and Stefon Diggs had another 33 yards on four catches. Jacory Croskey-Merritt led Washington on the ground with 36 yards on 19 carries.

Daniels went down with a dislocated elbow in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys last week. He is expected back in three weeks or sooner, according to the NFL Networks' Ian Rapoport, and he'll play with a brace on his elbow when he returns. The injury is similar to the one Daniels suffered last season . He missed four weeks with a dislocated elbow last year and re-injured himself in his first game back .

While it almost certainly won't be Mariota's team for long, he seems more than capable of holding things down for the Commanders for the time being. That's about all they can ask for.