This week’s trip to London to play the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ended with a loss to the Washington Chiefs.
But one statistic underscored just how difficult the offense was for the Chiefs on Sunday.
Jayden Daniels, still sidelined after dislocating his left elbow against the Dallas Cowboys — the second season in a row Daniels has suffered that particular injury — veteran Marcus Mariota has started once for Washington. And on his first drive, he led the Chiefs to a 6-0 field goal drive, starting the second possession with this big run down the left side.
But disaster struck Washington. Mariota was knocked out of the game by a hit late in the drive and, after checking into the blue medical tent, was taken to the locker room for further evaluation of a possible knee injury.
Eventually he will be out of the game.
That forced Dan Quinn to turn to starting third-string quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, and while he performed admirably for a player in that situation — completing 15-of-33 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and an interception — it was clear that Indianapolis was focused on stopping the run after Mariota left.
At the end of the game, the Colts won 30-13, and Mariota remained the leader of Washington with one attempt.
Running back Austin Ekeler had four attempts for 29 yards, and Kaliakmanis had three carries for 16 yards.
One game, one run and one leadoff runner for the Chiefs: A player out after two drives.
It was such a Sunday for Washington in London.