Week 3 Preview – Las Vegas Raiders at Washington Commanders

By: Sam Myer 9/16/2025

The Washington Commanders are looking to bounce back from an ugly loss in week three when they host the 1-1 Las Vegas Raiders. In week two, the Commanders got thoroughly dominated by the Green Bay Packers in all three phases of the game. The final score was only 27-18, but the game felt like a 20-point blowout for much of the night. Week three feels like a must-win game for Washington knowing that they’re about to enter a tough stretch of road games.

There are plenty of areas requiring correction prior to the clash against the Raiders, but luckily for Washington they have ten days to implement any adjustments. The main priority must be on the offensive side, where the offensive line got brutalized for most of the game in Green Bay. Josh Connerly Jr. has certainly had a rough start to his career facing off against two elite defensive lines from the Giants and the Packers. Micah Parson had an absolute field day against the rookie right tackle, who was only making his second ever start on that side of the line. The struggles were not only contained to Connerly though as Jayden Daniels was pressured on a career-high 46% of drop-backs. This is a trend that needs to come to a swift end if Washington wants to get back on track with the Raiders coming to town. For the third straight week, Washington will be facing one of the top defensive linemen in the league in Maxx Crosby. It’s unclear if Washington will move forward with Connerly at right tackle after his shaky start to his career. Andrew Wylie performed well in 2024 starting at right tackle for most of the season but played behind Connerly to start 2025.

One thing that will provide a major lift to the pressure faced in the pass game will be establishing the run against Las Vegas. This was something the Commanders completely ignored in Green Bay, only calling two rushing attempts in the entire first half. NFL Week 1 Rookie of the Week Bill Croskey-Merritt was only given four carries in the whole game, playing behind Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols after his hot start against the Giants. Much of Washingtons success in 2024 can be attributed to their prolific rushing attack, so it can be expected that this will be a major focus in week three.

The other major issue in week two against Green Bay was the pass coverage across the board. Unfortunately, the challenge doesn’t lessen too much heading into week three with Brock Bowers, Jakobi Meyers, and multiple speedsters looming for the silver and black. While he was used as a decoy for much of their week two matchup, if healthier, Bowers could cause some serious chaos in the Commanders secondary. Tucker Kraft ran wild on Thursday Night Football and Bowers presents an even greater challenge. One thing that should provide some support to the secondary is the pass rush, which had little impact in week two. Las Vegas has one of the weaker offensive line units in the league, so Washington should be able to pin their ears back a bit more against the Raiders.

In addition to the defeat in Green Bay, Washington is heading into week three with some major injury concerns across the board. Starting running back Austin Ekeler and starting defensive tackle Deatrich Wise are both sidelined after suffering season-ending injuries in Green Bay. Bill Merritt, Javon Kinlaw, and Johnny Newton will need to play prominent roles for the Commanders to have success moving forward. Secondly, wide receiver Noah Brown and blocking tight end John Bates are unlikely to play after suffering soft tissue injuries in Green Bay as well. Rookie Jaylin Lane will likely take most of the reps in Noah Browns role as Luke McCaffery hasn’t had any experience as an outside receiver yet. The bigger concern would be the absence of tight end John Bates, who would be replaced by Ben Sinnott. Bates has become an elite blocking tight end and has been a major force in the running game. While Sinnott is an extremely physical player, he is not a difference make in the run game like Bates.

Finally, we’ve come to the biggest news of the week in Washington DC pertaining to the Commanders. Jayden Daniels suffered a knee sprain at Green Bay and remains per head coach Dan Quinn, “truly day to day”. As if the injury news couldn’t get any worse heading into the third game of the season, this bombshell was dropped on Monday afternoon. While the news is certainly ominous, Daniels finished the game after suffering the knee sprain with over ten minutes to go in the 4^th quarter. Given his toughness playing through his rib injury last season, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Daniels still gets the start on Sunday against Las Vegas. It is expected to be a game-time decision on Sunday morning, but Daniels has certain checkpoints he’ll need to hit throughout the week to be considered game ready by the staff. If he isn’t going to suit up against the Raiders, we’ll likely know on Friday or Saturday. Should Daniels not be able to take the field, Marcus Mariota will get the start for the Commanders in week three. Mariota led the offense in relief of Jayden twice in the 2024 season and performed quite well on both occasions. Should he need to lead the team on Sunday, it can be expected that Kliff Kingsbury will keep most of the playbook open to his disposal.

There are many obstacles and uncertainties facing the Washington Commanders heading into week three; however, the team will be more than prepared after 10 days of rest. While the injuries have piled up and Jayden Daniels status is up in the air, this team has the depth that it lacked the year before to handle business while shorthanded.