ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Commanders' problems stretch far.
The defense allows too many big plays. The offense takes too many sacks. The team makes too many mistakes. And their inability to start fast in games remains the crucial reason why another season has started poorly.
They excel at digging holes but struggle to emerge from them. That's been the case under coach Ron Rivera and in nearly every game this season. It's a big reason why they're 3-4 and have lost four of their past five heading into Sunday's game against the 6-1 Philadelphia Eagles (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
"It's hard to play catch-up," Washington receiver Terry McLaurin said.
It was the same story in Sunday's 14-7 loss to the New York Giants. Washington's defense allowed both scores and 256 yards in the first half. Meanwhile, Washington's offense generated zero points, 46 yards and allowed five sacks.
They have a new offense with a coordinator in Eric Bieniemy who, though he held the title for five years in Kansas City, is in charge of the entire offensive operation -- including calling all the plays -- for the first time in his career.
"I've been fine with what we've tried to do offensively," Rivera said.
They have a defense that has underperformed. After finishing seventh in points and third in yards last season, they're 29th in both categories in 2023.
It's no wonder the franchise finds itself with a losing record after seven games for the fifth season in a row.
Washington is a combined 10-18 after seven games in Rivera's four seasons. They're a combined 15-14 after that point.
Bieniemy's booming voice could often be heard shouting "finish!" to backs and receivers during training camp practices. That's what the Commanders haven't done well enough in games.
"It's about finishing," McLaurin said. "You can make it close, you can make it interesting, but if you don't finish, you're not going to win these tough games."
Washington has trailed at halftime in five of their seven games. The Commanders rallied to win the first two -- against the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos -- but have lost the last three. They nearly overcame a 27-3 halftime deficit against the Chicago Bears but ultimately lost 40-20.
They have led at halftime in two games -- a 34-31 overtime loss at Philadelphia and in a 24-16 win at the Atlanta Falcons -- and have been outscored 111-61 in the first two quarters overall.
"Just got to come out of the gate better. Start faster and just execute better in the first half," quarterback Sam Howell said.
Washington's defense has allowed 27 points -- three touchdowns and two field goals -- on the opening drive of the game. Those five scores allowed on the first series match the Commanders' season total in 2022 when they allowed two touchdowns.
The Commanders' offense has been equally unproductive. They have scored 10 points on their first possession. In the first quarter of games, Washington ranks 26th in yards gained, 23rd in points per game and 31st in yards per carry (3.1). Howell ranks 28th in first-half QBR.
On third down, they have allowed a 76.9% conversion rate on the opening drive. The offense has converted just 33.3% of their own.
"We need to make sure that we can find a way to have early success," Bieniemy said. "For whatever reason, when you're establishing building a culture and you're trying to get everyone on board with everything, sometimes it's easy to go back to what you're used to. Sometimes it gets easy when things don't go right, it's easy to say, well damn, here we go again."
On Sunday, McLaurin said the offense was slow to adjust to the Giants' defense. He was targeted once in the first half. And for a game in which New York blitzed Howell often (on 22 of his 49 total dropbacks and 11 of his first 20, according to ESPN Stats & Information), they did not throw a fade pass until late in the third quarter. McLaurin caught it for a 27-yard gain.
"It kind of came a little late, but it gave us some momentum and my teammates always asked me, we need a play from me, a play from you," McLaurin said. "I would definitely like to see us continue to get those up early because I think it really forces defenses to play more honest. They can't blitz and the safeties are at 10, 12 yards. They can't do that if you're beating them down the field. I think we saw that."
McLaurin's importance to Washington's offense can't be understated. Since 2020, the Commanders are 3-11 when he has one or fewer catches in the first half. They're 2-10 when he has two or fewer first-half targets. When he has two or more catches in the first half, they're 22-19-1. When he has three or more targets, they're 23-20-1.
"I know it's not just about myself, but at the same time, I know what I bring to the table," McLaurin said. "My teammates trust me. They're always looking at me when things are going on, 'You need to make a play. We trust you to get our offense going.' I feel that's why I'm here and I want to continue to be there for this offense and I want to be there for four quarters. I feel like it really gives juice to our offense. It really gets us going."
Washington has fared well in the second half of games offensively. Howell ranks eighth in QBR (61.3 QBR) over the final two quarters. The Commanders rank eighth in second-half scoring and 12th in points.
"We have found a young quarterback that gives us an opportunity," Rivera said.
But the defense ranks 19th in scoring and 17th in yards allowed in the second half of games. They're tied for first with 13 plays allowed of 25 yards or more in the first half and tied for fifth with 10 such plays allowed in the second half.
"We've had some ups and downs," Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said earlier this month. "We've had some great moments and we've had some moments that are a little bit disappointing. The best is yet to come for our group. I love the fact that we are a relentless group. We're a group that's stuck together and we're working through some of the issues that were the problem. We'll come out on the other side. I feel very confident about that."
They need to, otherwise big changes could occur after the season. And if Washington wants to enjoy a good second half, it starts with playing better in the first.