Commanders' slow starts and poor defense aren't new. The turnovers and poor running are

WASHINGTON — Stop me if you've heard this before: The Washington Commanders got off to a slow start, and their defense had plenty of trouble tackling.

Yes, neither of those is a new development for the 2025 Commanders. The problem this time, in a 25-24 loss to the Chicago Bears — but not, coach Dan Quinn hopes, again next Sunday at the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys — was that, in addition to those recurring issues, Washington (3-3) also had trouble running and stopping the run and kept giving the ball away.

That included two turnovers by star quarterback Jayden Daniels, whose first interception of the season arrived on a bad underthrow with a receiver open in the end zone Monday night and whose first fumble came when he and running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt couldn't connect properly on