By STEPHEN WHYNO, AP Sports Writer

LANDOVER, Md. — LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jayden Daniels’ health was the first thing on Marcus Mariota’s mind when he went into the game for the injured rookie quarterback. Then he just played football like he has his whole life.

After Daniels left with a rib injury, the Washington Commanders routed the Carolina Panthers 40-7 on Sunday behind two touchdown passes from Mariota and a 67-yard pick-6 of Andy Dalton by Dante Fowler.

“It takes a little bit to kind of get your feet going and all that, but, yeah, you’re just thinking about the player first and then from there you just go out there and try to to execute,” said Mariota, who was 18 of 23 for 205 yards with TD passes to tight ends Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott.

Concern over Daniels’ status overshadowed the victory after the No. 2 pick and offensive rookie of the year favorite left with a rib injury. His mother posted on social media that “he’s fine,” but coach Dan Quinn said only that he had no update and that Daniels would undergo further tests Monday.

The Commanders (5-2) did just fine without Daniels for a vast majority of the game after he had a 46-yard run and completed a couple of passes on their opening possession. They already led at that point thanks to Fowler’s pick-6, Andy Dalton’s first of two interceptions, the second by Emmanuel Forbes, who returned from being a healthy scratch last week.

After after catching his first interception of any kind in the NFL, Fowler saw open field and thought, “It’s time to go score a touchdown.”

“Man, it was like I was in a dream,” Fowler said.

The defense dominated, allowing 180 yards, stopping seven of 10 third-down chances and sacking Dalton twice.

With Mariota running the show, Washington chugged along and racked up 421 yards against the Panthers (1-6), who allowed the most points through of any team in the Super Bowl era through the first six games of a season.

“Between giving the ball way and just not being able to get off the field, I think they scored on all but one drive,” said Carolina coach Dave Canales, who committed to Dalton starting next week over 2023 No. 1 pick Bryce Young.

Brian Robinson Jr. also ran for a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, which caused him to miss the game last week at Baltimore — his team’s first loss since the opener. The 27-point halftime lead was the franchise’s biggest since being up 28-0 on Dallas on Dec. 18, 2005.

Carolina’s lost season continued five games into Dalton supplanting Young as the starting QB. Dalton finished 11 of 16 for 93 yards, and Young entered in mop-up duty with 4:55 left, completing two passes for negative yardage.

“It got out of our hands quick,” Dalton said. “We have to look ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘Why do these games keep going like this?’ I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Chuba Hubbard was limited to 52 yards on 17 carries after averaging averaging over 100 over the past four weeks. He ran for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter long after the outcome was decided and fans who were doing the wave earlier long departed to beat the traffic.

“At the end of the day, we won handily and I think the defense did an unbelievable job,” said Terry McLaurin, Washington’s leading receiver with six catches for 98 yards.

Panthers: RB Raheem Blackshear left with a shoulder injury from a kickoff return midway through the third quarter. … TE Tommy Tremble (back) was inactive after being listed as questionable.

Commanders: In addition to losing Daniels, rookie LT Brandon Coleman was concussed in the first half.

Panthers: At Denver next Sunday.

Commanders: Host Chicago next Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Source: wralsportsfan.com