With no Jayden Daniels leading the charge in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Washington Commanders were relying heavily on veteran backup quarterback Marcus Mariota to do the business at Northwest Stadium.
Daniels' participation was always unlikely after sustaining a sprained knee on Thursday Night Football versus the Green Bay Packers. Mariota got all the first-team reps in practice, and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury was suitably impressed with his timing and grasp of the game plan.
Doing it in practice is one thing. Doing the same in a competitive regular-season environment is something else entirely. Mariota performed well when his number was called last season. However, it's also worth remembering that it was against the lowly Carolina Panthers, who gave up more than 3,000 rushing yards and the most single-season points in NFL history.
This game had special significance for Mariota. He spent two years with the Raiders without getting much of an opportunity behind Derek Carr. The game also saw the signal-caller go up against Chip Kelly, who was his head coach at Oregon.
All eyes were on Mariota to see how he would fare with the spotlight glaring. As it turned out, Mariota turned back the clock to guide the Commanders back to winning ways in pretty comfortable fashion.
With that being said, here are five significant observations from Mariota's performance against the Raiders.
Major observations from Marcus Mariota's performance against the Raiders
Marcus Mariota's mobility
One thing the Commanders wanted to see from Marcus Mariota was solid mobility. Kliff Kingsbury's offense is predicated on his quarterback being able to improvise and escape pressure when called upon. Aside from one costly fumble, it was largely pleasing in this regard.
Mariota looked comfortable when getting out on the move. He leaned heavily on the run game early, and managed to gain a few chunk plays himself when things weren't developing downfield as expected. The legs looked fresh, and he gave the Raiders something different to think about.
This was precisely what the Commanders needed. It allowed Mariota to relax and find his groove. He's not played much football in recent months, so it was probably nice to shake off some rust and take a few legitimate hits.
Mariota eventually finished the game with 40 rushing yards from six carries. This is a potent area of Jayden Daniels' game, too, so it was nice to see a minimal drop-off for the offense to depend upon.
Much more was needed, but Mariota's rushing prowess was a solid foundation from which to build.