Medrano’s Late Pick Six Leads Commanders To Upset Victory Over Seahawks (9-27-26)
By: Jaden Golding
Headline Photo Credit: Washington Commanders
NORTHWEST STADIUM — It was a rainy, muggy home opener at Northwest Stadium. Still, for Marcus Mariota and the Washington Commanders, that didn’t matter as they looked for their first win of the 2026 season.
Mariota finished the contest with three touchdowns, and the Washington (1-2) defense forced three turnovers en route to a 33-31 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, their first loss since November of the 2025-26 season.
Mariota filled in for the injured Jayden Daniels and led the offense, which scored 27 points, while the defense ranked No. 1 in the league entering the contest.
Despite surrendering 437 total yards of offense to Seattle, one key reason the Commanders squeaked out the victory was their defense’s aggressive, energized performance.
Despite missing three starters: linebacker Frankie Luvu, cornerback Trey Amos, and safety Nick Cross, the defense was flying to the ball today.
The defense opened up the contest by forcing a three-and-out on the first drive and, on the second drive, rookie linebacker Sonny Styles forced a strip-fumble on fellow Seattle rookie running back Jadarian Price at the Seattle 21.
The fumble set up a six-yard touchdown pass by Mariota to running back Racchad White.
That was the case for the game, where turnovers swung the momentum to Washington and ultimately pulled away with the victory.
Washington led 17-10 after halftime, with Mariota tossing his second touchdown pass to Treylon Burks and a last-second 57-yard Drew Stevens field goal as time expired. The Commanders defense had also made a key stop from their own two-yard line to rob Seattle of points a couple of drives beforehand.
In the third, after a quick opening three-and-out by the Commanders’ offense, Seattle looked to tie the game. However, on a 1st-and-10 from their 42-yard line, Darnold looked for Jaxon Smith-Njigba across the middle, but the pass bounced off defensive lineman Tim Settle’s helmet into the air and into Styles’ hands.
What resulted from the turnover? A 30-yard touchdown connection to Terry McLaurin down the left sideline on an adjustment catch that had the Northwest Stadium crowd jumping.
Touchdowns by Eric Saubert (3rd quarter- 6:05) and Smith-Njigba (4th quarter- 11:53) knotted things up at 24 apiece in the fourth.
On the ensuing Washington drive, McLaurin drew unnecessary roughness, and a fourth-down conversion to McLaurin set up Stevens to put them back ahead by three with a 27-yard field goal.
Filling in for the injured Leo Chanel, who sustained a serious neck injury in the second quarter and was carted off. Linebacker Kain Medrano made the play of the day, picking off Sam Darnold for a pick-six on the third play of Seattle’s drive in an attempt to tie or take the lead. Despite a missed extra point, it put Washington up 33-24 with 3:57 left in the contest.
Seattle responded swiftly, with three straight passes to JSN that quickly put them on Washington’s side of the field. Darnold capped it off by finding a wide-open Cooper Kupp in the flat for a seven-yard touchdown, making it a two-point deficit with 2:51 left.
However, Mariota and the offense wouldn’t be rattled, converting two key third downs to ice the game, with the latter coming when Mariota kept the ball on an option play for a nine-yard gain on 3rd-and-7 to go into victory formation.
Washington picked up a much-needed win, avoiding a 0-3 start after a week full of turmoil and outcry from the fanbase/media. It’s the kind of victory that builds confidence in a group that can stick with it through the rest of the season and hopefully stack wins.
Up Next:
Washington heads across the pond to London to face the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Kickoff is at 9:30 a.m. E.T.
