What to watch for in the Washington Commanders' week three home opener against the Seattle Seahawks
In their first home game of 2026, the Washington Commanders will host the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. Will Washington pull off the upset this week and avoid starting 0-3? Let’s look at four things to watch out for in the game.
Stopping Jaxon Smith-Njigba
One word to describe Washington’s secondary through two games into the season is disastrous. The team has given up seven touchdowns through the air with zero interceptions. Cornerback Mike Sainristil’s play has been rough, to say the least, giving up multiple big plays in coverage. Now the Commanders host Seattle and the NFL’s leader in receiving yards, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He has been on a tear to start the season, going for over 100 yards in both of Seattle’s wins. His 45-yard touchdown reception against New England tied the game at ten early in the fourth quarter. He later caught an 11-yard pass to start the Seahawks’ game-winning drive. Last week, Smith-Njigba torched Arizona with nine catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns. With Trey Amos still on IR for a couple more weeks and safety Nick Cross unavailable after he was hospitalized following the loss to the Eagles with what head coach Dan Quinn called an internal injury, an already thin Commanders’ secondary looks even thinner. Can the Commanders respond to all the questions and doubts heading into the game, and find a way to slow down Smith-Njigba, or will he continue his domination on the young season?
How the Offense Looks with Mariota at QB
Jayden Daniels going down with a dislocated elbow on the final play of the first half last week was the one injury the Commanders couldn’t afford to have. With Daniels out for an unknown period, Marcus Mariota steps into the starting role at quarterback. Mariota has been with the Commanders since 2024 and started eight games last year when Daniels suffered the same injury. He knows the offense well, but he'll have limitations on what he can do since he’s not as mobile as Daniels. Expect the offense to look relatively the same but with fewer designed quarterback runs.
Seattle’s Starting QB
Speaking of injured quarterbacks, Seattle’s Sam Darnold had an injury scare in week one when he went down on the first drive of the season, but escaped with an injured glute. He missed last week’s matchup against Arizona, with Drew Lock taking over as the starter. Lock has gone above and beyond filling in for Darnold, leading a game-winning drive against New England and having a three-touchdown performance in Arizona, with zero interceptions in both games. Darnold returned to practice on Wednesday and was off the injury report Friday, confirming he will return to the field Sunday. No matter who’s starting at quarterback, Washington must make things uncomfortable for the player under center. Through two games, the Commanders have five sacks, with free-agent signees K’Lavon Chaisson and Odafe Oweh taking turns registering one. The secondary also has to hold up better than what they did in weeks one and two, which is now gonna be tougher with Nick Cross already being ruled out.
Washington OL vs. Seattle DL
Washington’s offensive line didn’t give up a sack in their loss to Dallas. However, the lasting image from that game was guard Chris Paul stepping on Jayden Daniels’ foot, which caused him to lose his balance, leading to his dislocated elbow. The already banged-up line also lost tackle Brandon Coleman to a finger injury. Luckily, it wasn’t serious, and Coleman was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, and is good to go for Sunday. That’s good news for a Washington team that moved him to left tackle following Laremy Tunsil’s torn triceps during training camp. While Coleman got off easy, the same could not be said for guard Sam Cosmi, who suffered a concussion and is yet to practice this week. With him out, Tanoa Togiai takes over the right guard spot in his place. The unit will have its hands full trying to protect Mariota from a Seahawk front seven that has two game wreckers on the defensive line in Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy. At 32, Williams shows no signs of slowing down after recording a sack in each of the first two games, while Murphy is one of the top young defensive linemen in the league. This is going to be a big challenge for the Commanders’ offensive line; will they live up to it?
