The Washington Commanders stumbled to a 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Injuries continued to pile up from the London matchup as Washington dropped to a 1-3 record on the season.
Sunday’s matchup marked the NFL’s 65th international regular-season game and the 43rd regular-season contest played in London. Washington entered the game without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has been sidelined with an elbow injury, and wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who was ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury in Friday’s practice.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota stepped in the Week 4 matchup for Daniels but exited early in the first quarter after injuring his right knee on a sack. Head coach Dan Quinn shared after the game that the team believes Mariota re-aggravated the MCL injury he suffered during the preseason, with further scans scheduled for Monday.
Mariota’s departure called upon rookie quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to take action for his NFL debut. The rookie finished 15-of-33 for 186 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, but Washington’s offense struggled to maintain consistency after Mariota’s departure.
“That all starts the day after the game going into next week,” said quarterback Kaliakmanis. “As a backup, you never know. That’s the situation I’m in right now, backup quarterback. That starts on Monday. You prepare all week. If anything happens, you’ve got to be ready to go in because you never know. You’re always one snap away. I was preparing mentally for that all week.”
The Commanders briefly found momentum when Kaliakmanis connected with Treylon Burks for a 47-yard gain, while an apparent 87-yard touchdown to Antonio Williams was wiped away by two penalties.
“Yeah, it definitely stung, but it’s next play. You can’t control that,” said Kaliakmanis. “You can only control what you can control. Yeah, it hurts for a second, but now you’ve got to go into [the] next play. It’s unfortunate, but we let the refs ref and the players play the game… It’s not about what the call is or isn’t, it’s about the next play, and we’ve got to go down and do that again.”
Washington also committed 10 penalties compared to just one by Indianapolis, further stalling play opportunities.
Defensively, the Commanders made an immediate impact, with defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw deflecting a pass from Colts’ quarterback Daniel Jones before outside linebacker Odafe Oweh sacked Jones, forcing a fumble and recovering it on Indianapolis’ opening drive. But it was the Colts that eventually pulled away behind Jonathan Taylor’s two rushing touchdowns and Jones’ rushing score.
“We started out hot,” said linebacker Sonny Styles. “[I] think we started with a few three and outs, turnovers. [We] just got to keep fighting, find a way to pull it off in the second half. Obviously, we’ve got our third string quarterback in there, so I think the defense has to step up and find a way. He kept us in striking distance. We had the opportunities to get a few stops and get off the field, and we didn’t get the stops we needed.”
The loss also came with additional injuries. Wide receiver Jaylin Lane suffered what Quinn described as a “serious” ankle injury, while defensive end Charles Omenihu left with a groin injury.
With the Commanders already dealing with significant absences, the injuries to Mariota, Lane, and Omenihu add even more uncertainty heading into week five. Washington will return home to face NFC East rival New York Giants on Sunday, Oct. 11, with Daniels expected to return to practice this week. His progress, along with the results of Mariota’s injury evaluation, will play a major role in determining who leads the Commanders into their second home game of the season.
“That’s the hope for us for sure, [Jayden Daniels] coming back,” Quinn said. “He’ll have a full week of practice Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. That’s the goal, that he could get into that space. Once we get, see where Marcus [Mariota] is, that part too, we’ll have a better understanding. That’s the goal, for Jayden to throw a full-on week. He was able to do some limited this week, and this week would be the plan for him to do all the reps.”
