Sunday gave Washington something it had never gotten from a rookie before. In the Commanders’ 33-31 win over the Seattle Seahawks, Sonny Styles put together a line that jumped off the page: five tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and two passes defensed.
That made Styles the first Washington rookie in franchise history to log an interception, a forced fumble, and multiple passes defensed in the same game.
He didn’t just make a cameo, either. With Frankie Luvu, Jordan Magee, and now Leo Chenal dealing with injuries, the linebacker group has been stripped down fast, and Styles played all 67 defensive snaps. Three games into the season, the Commanders are already leaning hard on their top-10 pick.
His biggest moment came in the third quarter. Styles stepped in front of a Sam Darnold throw after the ball hit Tim Settle’s helmet first, and Washington took over at the Seattle 43. Three plays later, Marcus Mariota hit Terry McLaurin for a 30-yard touchdown.
Styles struck again later in the quarter, ripping the ball loose from tight end Eric Saubert near the goal line. Seattle recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, so it didn’t become a turnover, but the play was another reminder of how often Styles found himself around the football.
Afterward, Styles kept the focus on the work still ahead. “I’m not anywhere near where I want to be,” he said.
With Chenal undergoing season-ending neck surgery today, Washington’s linebacker situation is changing on the fly, and Styles is right in the middle of it. Giving him every snap against the defending champs says plenty about how the Commanders see him.
In Other News...
Kain Medrano May Have Just Forced A Bigger Commanders Role
The Commanders needed help at linebacker, and Kain Medrano gave them something they can build on in a hurry. In Sundays win over the Seahawks, the second-year linebacker finally got his first regular-season defensive snaps and made them count in a major way, turning a fourth-quarter interception into a pick-six that helped decide the game. It was the kind of sudden impact Washington has been searching for as injuries have thinned that position group.
Marcus Mariota, Sonny Styles and Terry McLaurin did their part in the victory, but Medranos moment may have changed the conversation about what comes next. A player who had not taken a defensive snap in an NFL regular-season game before Week 3 suddenly looked like someone Washington can trust in meaningful situations, and with the linebacker room already stretched, his role is now worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Shocked Seattle But One Problem Still Wont Go Away
The Commanders left their home opener with an eye-opening win over Seattle, and the result was even more impressive because it came after Jayden Daniels went down with a dislocated elbow. Marcus Mariota stepped in at quarterback, while Washington played with noticeably more urgency and got an early lift from a defense that looked far sharper than it had in recent weeks.
Mike Sainristils limited playing time was one piece of the postgame conversation, but the larger concern lingered in the same familiar place. Washington still had trouble staying clean before the snap, and those discipline issues keep hanging around even after a victory that should have been about relief and momentum. The Commanders got the upset they needed, but the details around how sustainable it really is are harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Lose Leo Chenal After Frightening Injury Scare
The second quarter brought a frightening pause for the Commanders when linebacker Leo Chenal went down against the Seahawks and had to be taken off the field on a cart. Washington later ruled him out with a neck injury, leaving the focus far bigger than the score and shifting attention immediately to Chenals condition.
There was a small measure of relief in the early reports, which indicated Chenal was able to move his arms and legs as he was being removed from the field. Even so, any neck injury draws instant concern, and the Commanders will be waiting on further updates as they try to sort through both the medical outlook and the on-field void left behind. [Read more 🡒]