The Commanders defeated the Panthers 40-7 to move to 5-2 on the season

The Commanders didn't have Jayden Daniels for most of Sunday's home game against the Panthers, but they didn't really need him.

Daniels left with injured ribs and led the team 10-0 in the first quarter, and the lead only grew from there. Marcus Mariota threw two touchdowns, Brian Robinson ran for another score and the Commanders cruised to a 40-7 victory over Carolina.

Daniels was initially considered questionable to return and he was ruled out at halftime. The Commanders were up 27-0 at the time, so it's difficult to say much about what that meant for Daniels' condition. It seemed like a good sign that he returned to the sidelines in street clothes, and the fact that he spent the second half smiling and laughing with his teammates would fall into the same category.

Mariota was 18 of 23 for 205 yards and hit tight ends Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott for his two touchdowns. Robinson ran 12 times for 71 yards and Daniels had 50 rushing yards before leaving the game.

The Panthers put together a nice drive to open the game, but Andy Dalton was picked off on a third downscreen pass and Dante Fowler returned the ball 67 yards for the first points of the game. Dalton threw another interception and was 11 of 16 for 93 yards before the Panthers gave Bryce Young a few snaps late in the fourth quarter.

The poor performance could lead to questions about returning for Young, but Panthers head coach Dave Canales said at halftime that he wasn't considering a move, so the Panthers may not consider taking the first overall pick of the 2023 draft back in one sensible action at this point.

The 1-6 Panthers will be in Denver next Sunday and the 5-2 Commanders will stay home to face the Bears. They're hoping it'll be a matchup between Daniels and 2024 first-rounder Caleb Williams, but we'll have to wait to find out the details of Daniels' injury.