Depending on your point of view, the Washington Commanders are falling out of the elite teams, or the fraud-watch narrative is overblown. But what matters in the NFL is the next game. And here are the bold predictions for the Commanders' contest against the Raiders in Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season.
The Commanders are 1-1, coming off a beat-down loss to the Packers. And they may be without the services of quarterback Jayden Daniels. He suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter against Green Bay.
It’s difficult to make bold predictions without knowing whether Daniels will play. But since he hasn’t practiced this week, we’ll make predictions with the idea that he won’t be in the lineup.
Commanders QB Marcus Mariota will account for 3 scores
This may seem overly bold, but follow the logic. The Commanders have also lost starting running back Austin Ekeler. That puts rookie Billy Croskey-Merritt as the lead dog. Croskey-Merritt has indeed looked good so far. But there’s no way of knowing whether he’s a touchdown guy.
Head coach Dan Quinn saw good things from Croskey-Merritt in the summer, according to commanders wire.com.
“What you can evaluate is the explosion on the cut, the assignment, was the read correct,” Quinn said. “Having Anthony (Lynn, running backs coach) here is a really big deal, from a running back standpoint. He's got so much experience and can give the insight to the players to absolutely get them right. But I think it's the violence of the cuts. That he can get his shoulders square and get downhill fast. He's off to a really good start.”
How Croskey-Merritt performs in the red zone will impact Mariota. Look for the Raiders to focus on shutting down Croskey-Merritt first in running situations. This leaves the door open for Mariota to get a zone-read rushing score.
It also opens the door for play-action passing, even inside the 10-yard line. So Mariota’s three scores would be a short run, short pass, and a play-action intermediate score.
Mariota said he’s preparing to play on Sunday, according to ESPN.
“My routine stays the same,” said Mariota, who re-signed with Washington in the offseason. “It just kind of creates that normal procedure for me, and it allows me just to go out there and play and not have to worry about, OK, I got to do this extra, I got to do that. I just kind [of] stick to my process and allow that process to work.”
Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty will have 30-plus-yard TD
It hasn’t gone so well for the promising rookie. In two games, he has 30 carries for 81 yards. That’s an excruciatingly low 2.7 yards per carry, which means at least one of two things. The Raiders’ offensive line is terrible, or Jeanty was overrated coming out of college.
We’ll go with the former and suggest that Jeanty will find a rare crease this Sunday against the Commanders. He should be able to pop off his first long NFL touchdown run.
Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said better days are ahead for the first-round rookie, according to Raiders.com.
“He'll get more,” Carroll said. “That'll come. We're going to have to run the football more effectively. We've got to get more yards. We had 50 or 60 yards or something rushing. That's not enough. We've got to get more than that. So, I'd like to see that just as well as you would, but as far as pushing the issue with him, trying to get him 25 carries or something like that, we're breaking him in, and so that'll come.”
Jeanty said he wants to have more on his plate.
“I'm ready for the responsibility,” Jeanty said. “Like I said, it's going to start with me in the run game. And I've got to continue to get better.”
Commanders WR Terry McLaurin will catch a TD pass
Look for the previously mentioned intermediate TD pass to come McLaurin’s way.
Last year, McLaurin had two terrible games before breaking loose with a 100-yard performance in Week 3 against an AFC opponent. This year, he opened with two abysmal efforts, and the AFC Raiders are next.
And the Raiders entered the season with the worst-ranked secondary in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
“Despite several offseason additions aimed at improving the secondary, this unit looks troublesome on paper,” John Kosko wrote. “Safety Jeremy Chinn is the most seasoned veteran, but his 65.2 grade in 2024 was his best in three years—a reflection of recent struggles. The team drafted cornerback Darien Porter in the third round, and he could provide a spark, but the unit is expected to start multiple players who posted coverage grades below 50.0 last season.”
And it has carried into the season, according to Fantasy Pros.
“Mariota could easily put up QB1 numbers this week against a Raiders’ pass defense that has allowed the tenth-most yards per attempt, the 14th-highest CPOE, and the seventh-most passing yards per game,” Derek Brown wrote.
This means McLaurin should have ample opportunity to have a big game, even with Mariota at quarterback.
“He's played at a high level for a long time,” McLaurin said of Mariota. “He's been a starter in multiple places. He’s had to come in — even last year. He brings a calm to the huddle that is reassuring for everyone in there. He's a pro's pro. You always feel his energy.”
