Dan Quinn can’t outrun the Commanders' habit that could break them

The Washington Commanders may have left Los Angeles with a win, powered by a breakout performance for Jacory Croskey-Merritt and steady play from Luke McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel Sr. Still, their ongoing road issues remain a concern beneath the surface.

What's often overlooked in the excitement of last week's win, where the Commanders scored 27 unanswered points, is that the team once again got off to a slow start on the road.

After the loss to the Atlanta Falcons, head coach Dan Quinn said the team needed to work on getting the offense rolling faster on the road and being better at converting on third downs.

But I also said that our two road games, we’ve started slowly, and our two home games, we haven’t. We’re on the road again this week, and we need to get that handled. First quarter, down 10-0. We've got to make sure we can get that turned around and play it fast and aggressive like we like.Dan Quinn

Against the Chargers, it was déjà vu, as once again Washington fell behind 10-0 early. If it wasn't for the Quentin Johnston fumble, which shifted the momentum of the entire game, Los Angeles was well on its way to scoring again.

Commanders have flaws to fix if they want to meet raised expectations

Washington’s rally was as much about persistence as it was about the Chargers' sloppy errors. The turnover gave life, and then the repeated penalties by the usually disciplined Los Angeles team, including two in a row, erasing gains of 23 and 31 yards, helped put the game away.

Last season, Washington had the fifth-most first-quarter points in the NFL and was in the middle of the pack in road games. This year, the Commanders are 26th in first-quarter points overall and dead last on their travels.

In its three away games, the Commanders have scored zero points in the first quarter. With Jayden Daniels behind center, no lead is insurmountable. But given the injuries this team has been facing all year, it's not fair to think they will always be able to climb out of early deficits.

Against the Green Bay Packers, the Commanders' first quarter ended with two punts and one total yard of offense. The team only had 82 total yards at the half, compared with 274 yards for the opposition.

After the game, Quinn talked about why he thought the offense struggled and said, "I thought getting behind, I thought that was a big piece of it."

The problems continued against Atlanta with Marcus Mariota leading the offense. The first quarter ended with Washington having -6 yards of offense. The team showed improvement in the second quarter, putting some points on the board and entering halftime down 17-10. However, the offense was outgained 205-111 in yards.

Against Los Angeles, Washington finished the first quarter with 30 total yards of offense and two punts.

The bigger issue plaguing the offense early is getting into long third downs, which has limited their ability to convert. On the road this year, the team has gone 3-for-15 (20%) in the first half on third downs, facing an average 8.93 yards to go.

After stepping in for Daniels against the Falcons, Mariota mentioned third downs have contributed to the early issues.

But for us, just got to be better on third down - stay on the field, help out defense out. It's one of those things when you're three-and-out early, momentum shifts to them.Marcus Mariota

Last season, the Commanders were sixth in the league for third-down conversion percentage and seventh in time of possession (excluding overtime). This year, Washington is 30th and 28th in those categories, respectively.

Despite the 3-2 record, this is not the same team as last season. To repeat the magic of 2024, Quinn and Kliff Kingsbury need to address these issues urgently.