Slow-w-w-w starts: Washington Commanders need to address sluggish first-half offense

The Washington Commanders managed just 106 yards of offense in the first halves of its losses to Detroit and Philadelphia the past two weeks.

The slow-w-w-w starts played into big halftime deficits – 22-0 in the Week 2 loss to the Lions, 24-0 in the Week 3 loss to the Eagles.

“I’ve got to be better,” said QB Carson Wentz, who was 3-of-10 for 24 yards and lost 42 yards on six sacks in the first half of the Philadelphia game.

“I have to get rid of the ball in a lot of those situations, find a check down and move on, different things like that,” said Wentz, who finished with 211 yards passing in the 24-8 loss to the Eagles.

Wentz’s season numbers look fine – 287.0 yards per game, seven TDs, three INTs, a 90.6 passer rating.

But the past two weeks, his productivity has come almost entirely in the second halves with Washington way, way behind, and the Lions and Eagles softening up their pass coverages to make the Commanders dink and dunk their way down the field to eat up clock.

“You’re not going to win too many games without putting any points on the board in the first half like we have in the last few weeks,” wideout Terry McLaurin said. “We all know that, and we all have to take individual accountability for that and improve.”