As Marcus Mariota said after the game, it looked like Jeremy McNichols was tackled about four times on a second-down run in the second quarter.

But the 30-year-old veteran kept moving his feet, and after a moment where it looked like he would actually get taken to the ground, he was off. McNichols outran the rest of the Las Vegas Raiders defense for the 60-yard score -- the longest run of his career -- and put the Washington Commanders up 17-10, hyping up the crowd with his teammates around him.

In a way, McNichols' run embodied the Commanders' 41-24 win over the Raiders, which moved them to 2-1 for the third consecutive season. They faced adversity at several positions, from Jayden Daniels being ruled out on Friday to injuries piling up in the secondary and personnel changes on the offensive line. Even the head coach wasn't immune, as Dan Quinn took a hit from Marcus Mariota as the quarterback scrambled out of bounds.

But like McNichols and their head coach, the Commanders took the hits in stride, delivering their best performance in all three phases so far this season.

"This is a resilient group, so I wasn't surprised," Quinn said. "But I was pleased to see us doing that, knowing that [there were] some new faces in different spots. But the attitude, the mindset of how we want to play ball, that would stay consistent."

Although there were some mistakes, namely the fumble from Mariota in the first quarter and the missed 38-yard field goal from Matt Gay, the Commanders felt in control for most of the afternoon. Fumble aside, Mariota filled in nicely for Daniels, completing 15-of-21 passes for 201 yards with 40 on the ground and two total touchdowns. It was the third time Mariota has had to play in relief for Daniels, who dealt with a knee injury all week, and in those matchups -- all wins -- the Commanders have put up 1,090 yards of offense and 104 points.

Quinn said after the game that Mariota performed as expected. Mariota felt the support from the team throughout the week, and that instilled confidence that he could pull out a win in his first start in three years.

"I just had fun, man," Mariota said. "It's been such an interesting journey for me, and I would never trade it for anything in the world."

Mariota and McNichols, who led the team with 78 yards on four carries, contributed to a rushing attack that surpassed 200 yards for the second time in three games. Terry McLaurin looked more like himself with 75 yards on three catches. The team had 174 rushing yards by halftime and converted 50% of their third downs while averaging 7.4 yards per play.

The Commanders were helped by an improved performance from their defense, which got to quarterback Geno Smith five times. Wide receiver Tre Tucker finished the game with 145 yards and three touchdowns, but he was the only player who had much success. Ashton Jeanty was stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage on multiple occasions, while tight end Brock Bowers was held to 38 yards. They only had one first down in the entire first quarter and didn't start chipping away at the Commanders' lead until time was against them.

Like Mariota's performance, the missed field goal was the only mistake from the Commanders' special teams unit. Deebo Samuel Sr. started the day off with a 69-yard kickoff return. Gay made up for his miss earlier in the day with a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half, while the coverage unit limited Tucker to 10 punt return yards on two attempts.

And then there's the exclamation point for the day: Jaylin Lane broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown -- the first for Washington since 2016 -- to put the Commanders up by three scores.

"It's really just my teammates," Lane said. "They work their tails off, blocking for me and speaking life into me. They give me all the confidence in the world."

The special teams unit, which Quinn called the team's "flagship," set the tone for the day, but it took some time for the Commanders to get rolling on a consistent basis. They powered down the field following Samuel's return and held the Raiders to a field goal on their opening possession. They followed that up with Mariota's fumble following a 22-yard run and Gay's missed field goal attempt.

It took another three-and-out from the Raiders for the Commanders to get a spark. They got in range for a 46-yard field goal from Gay and answered the Raiders' 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive with McNichols' 60-yard touchdown run. Bobby Wagner picked up one of his two sacks to help force another Raiders punt, and Mariota's run, which left Quinn with a cut on the nose, moved the ball close enough for a 56-yard field goal to make it 20-10 at halftime.

Neither team's offense did much to start the third quarter with both teams combining for –14 yards, but Lane and the special teams unit were there to provide another momentum swing. Lane fielded the ball at the Commanders' 10-yard line and cut through the middle of the Raiders' coverage. He shrugged off a tackle attempt from punter AJ Cole near midfield and went untouched the rest of the way.

The Commanders found the end zone again following another Raiders punt. McLaurin got open down the sideline for a 56-yard reception that moved the ball to the 1-yard line. Jacory Croskey-Merritt capped off the drive with the one-yard run, putting the Commanders up 34-10 with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

The Raiders tried to climb back into the game and nearly succeeded. Tucker scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, cutting the Commanders' lead from 24 to 10 with three minutes left. But the Commanders put things away for good on their final drive of the game, as Luke McCaffrey got open for a 43-yard touchdown, which he celebrated by jumping into the stands.

Quinn wasn't surprised by the team coming back from a tough loss at the hands of the Green Bay Packers 10 days ago, but he was pleased to see it unfold, even if he took a few bumps and bruises to do so.

"When you can capitalize and win on field position...keeping them pinned back, those are winning football moments," Quinn said. "And when you do it...the story almost writes itself."