Medrano pick-six helps Mariota and Commanders hold off Seahawks 33-31

Kain Medrano stepped in front of Sam Darnold's pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with 3:57 left Sunday. Washington had led by 14 and then watched Seattle draw level, but the linebacker’s interception return gave the Commanders a nine-point cushion after a missed extra point. They needed almost all of it. Darnold answered with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp 66 seconds later, cutting the lead to 33-31.

Washington then secured the game without another pass. Rachaad White ran 19 yards on third-and-nine, and Marcus Mariota later scrambled nine yards on third-and-seven to let the Commanders run out the clock. The win was Washington's first of the season, moving it to 1-2; Seattle fell to 2-1.

Mariota started in place of Jayden Daniels, who remains out with a dislocated left elbow. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. His first scoring throw went six yards to White after a Jadarian Price fumble gave Washington a short field. Mariota then found Treylon Burks from 11 yards in the second quarter and Terry McLaurin from 30 in the third, building a 24-10 lead.

Darnold led Seattle back. He threw two touchdowns to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, including an 11-yarder that tied it at 24 with 11:53 left. Drew Stevens' 36-yard field goal put Washington ahead again before Medrano's return. Smith-Njigba finished with 10 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while Darnold threw for 379 yards and four scores. Yet his two interceptions and Seattle's lost fumble were decisive in a game the Seahawks otherwise controlled statistically: 437 yards to Washington's 258. The ESPN final records all three turnovers against Seattle and none against Washington.

Linebacker Leo Chenal was carted off with a neck injury in the second quarter, according to Associated Press reporting. Medrano replaced him and delivered the game-changing turnover. The available report does not establish a diagnosis or return date for Chenal; that remains a separate medical and roster update for Washington.