It took 2 passes for Marcus Mariota to prove Jayden Daniels injury will doom Commanders

Washington Commanders star quarterback Jayden Daniels was in the midst of trying to orchestrate a comeback against the rival Cowboys on Sunday in Week 7 when the Dallas defense was making that exceedingly difficult on him. In the midst of a terrific performance from the home defense, however, Daniels left the game injured after an awkward tackle led to a fumble that was recovered by the Cowboys.

Daniels hobbled off the field and right to the blue medical tent to be evaluated by doctors and trainers. While he ultimately emerged and looked up to his mother in the stands to give her a thumbs up, he was then taken to the locker room thereafter.

As you see there, the Commanders called this a hamstring injury. While it's an odd or unusual way for a player to hurt his hamstring, it is possible with that type of pressure on the hip from that type of hit could force a hamstring injury.

Now, we're not breaking news here to say that Daniels being out makes the Commanders a notably worse offense. We've already seen that this season when the second-year quarterback was forced to miss time due to a separate injury. However, even the most pessimistic Washington fan probably wouldn't have expected how immediately Marcus Mariota would kill any remaining good vibes.

Marcus Mariota immediately made Commanders fans queasy after Jadyen Daniels injury

With Daniels heading to the locker room and the Cowboys taking a 34-15 lead, that put the backup, Mariota, in the game for Dan Quinn's team. Rather than give this team some hope that they would be able to skate by with their backup, even if they didn't come back to win against Dallas, his second pass of the day made every Commanders fan sick to their stomach with a horrendous pick-six that, frankly, should've never been thrown.

That, in one play, is the embodiment of how Mariota went from a top-five pick to a journeyman backup that doesn't inspire much confidence in a fan base.

Sure, Mariota did a fine job evading some pressure, but that doesn't matter if he keeps holding onto the ball in the face of pressure and tries to force a pass that isn't there. And when you do that, mistakes are going to be made, ones that can be as costly as Daron Bland jumping the route and taking the interception back to the house.

Commanders might be dead in the water without Jayden Daniels

To Mariota's credit, at least somewhat, when he returned to the field for Washington for his second drive in relief of Daniels, he was able to lead a touchdown drive that cut the deficit to 19 points. At the same time, though, even that drive wasn't all too promising as the Commanders were kept alive by a ticky-tack defensive pass interference penalty on a fourth-down throw that initially fell incomplete.

Again, no one is expecting the Commanders to be world-beaters without Jayden Daniels in the fold if he's to miss time beyond the rest of the Week 7 game in Dallas. However, with the position and situation that Washington is currently in, having Mariota continue to start could legitimately signal the end of this team's season.

After the eventual loss to the Cowboys, the Commanders have a brutal stretch ahead with a much harder schedule than a year ago thanks to their finish in the NFC East last season. Their next three games will take them on the road against the Chiefs, back home on a short week against the Seahawks, and then home again the following week against the Lions. For those keeping track at home, that's three straight games against potential polayoff teams.

Meanwhile, the loss to Dallas puts Washington's record at just 3-4 on the season. With Mariota at the helm, it might even be generous to say that the Commanders would win one of their next three games. But even if you give them that, you're talking about a team that's sitting at 4-6 on the season with crucial losses in the NFC already to the Bears, Falcons, Cowboys and Packers (in addition to potentially the Seahawks and Lions).

We will obviously wait for an official word on how long Daniels could be out of action with the hamstring injury. But Mariota's immediate ineptitude should have every Commanders fan at least prepared for the worst, if they aren't already outright fearing it, for this team's season.