The Washington Commanders beat the Seattle Seahawks 33-31 on Sunday, and a 50-yard interception return by Kain Medrano with 3:57 left was the difference. Seattle piled up 437 yards to Washington's 258, but it turned the ball over 3 times while Washington never did.

How It Happened

Washington struck first at 9:08 of the first quarter when Marcus Mariota found Rachaad White for a 6-yard touchdown. That was the only score of the opening period.

Seattle tied it early in the second quarter on a 1-yard pass from Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Mariota answered with an 11-yard strike to Treylon Burks at 6:47 to put Washington back in front.

The half ended with matching 57-yard field goals. Jason Myers hit his with 52 seconds left, and Drew Stevens matched it as time expired, sending Washington to the locker room up 17-10.

Mariota opened the third quarter by hitting Terry McLaurin for a 30-yard touchdown at 10:43, stretching the lead to two touchdowns. Darnold cut it back to 7 with a 13-yard scoring pass to Eric Saubert at 6:05.

Seattle drew even when Darnold found Smith-Njigba again, this time from 11 yards out, at 11:53 of the fourth. Stevens put Washington back on top with a 36-yard field goal at 4:34.

Medrano's pick-six came less than a minute later. Stevens missed the point after, leaving the lead at 9. Darnold threw a 7-yard touchdown to Cooper Kupp at 2:51 to make it a 2-point game, but Seattle did not score again.

Key Performers

Kain Medrano, WSH: 50-YD interception return TD

Marcus Mariota, WSH: 3 TD passes (6, 11, 30 YDS)

Drew Stevens, WSH: 2 FG (57, 36 YDS), 3 PAT, 1 PAT missed

Sam Darnold, SEA: 4 TD passes (1, 13, 11, 7 YDS)

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, SEA: 2 TD catches (1, 11 YDS)

SEA passing: 32-46, 393 YDS, 2 INT, 0 sacks

WSH passing: 19-31, 176 YDS, 0 INT, 2 sacks for 7 YDS

Seattle threw the ball well all afternoon, picking up 22 first downs through the air. The ground game gave it almost nothing, with 44 yards on 18 carries.

Washington did not run it much better, managing 82 yards on 32 carries. It won anyway by not giving the ball away.

What It Means

Washington improves to 1-2. The Commanders are 1-0 at home and 0-2 on the road, and this home win came from opportunism rather than control of the game.

Seattle falls to 2-1, now 1-0 at home and 1-1 on the road. The Seahawks moved the ball at will through the air and went 4-for-5 in the red zone, but 2 interceptions and a lost fumble wiped out a big yardage edge.

The takeaway for Seattle is simple: it outplayed Washington on a per-play basis and lost on turnovers. For Washington, a defense that was carved up through the air still produced the game's decisive points.