By all accounts, the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles appear to be two of the top five teams in the league this season. Both franchises have aspirations of playing for championships with stacked rosters on both sides of the ball.

The Washington Commanders, of course, are nowhere near the NFL’s top five. They remain a work-in-progress with far more questions than answers but are at least trending in a positive direction. Top-tier opposition, like Buffalo and Philadelphia, provides a welcome measuring stick to see where the burgundy and gold stack up about a quarter of the way through the season.

During Week 3, the offense was woefully prepared for the onslaught of havoc the Bills wreaked in the backfield. Sam Howell was pressured on 69 percent of his drop backs and sacked nine times. The offense responded by turning the ball over five times and went just one for nine on third downs, neither of which is conducive to winning football games. 

One week later, the Commanders fared much better against the Eagles. Rather than abandoning the ground game early on, Washington adopted a much more balanced approach. And on passing downs, Eric Bieniemy smartly opted to get the ball out of his young quarterback’s hands much quicker — making Sam Howell less of a sitting target against a talented Eagles’ defensive front. Staying committed to the running game, as well as three-step drops and some occasional rollouts made it harder for Philadelphia to get their hands on the North Carolina product.

Howell is still on pace to be sacked 102 times this season, which would shatter the previous record of 76, but the offense found itself in a groove early and led 17-7 with less than two minutes to go before halftime. The Commanders’ problems in Week 4, came on the other side of the ball. 

Eagles receiver A.J. Brown finished the day with nine catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns, most of which came at the expense of Commanders rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. For the most part, the rest of Philadelphia’s explosive weapons were held largely in check. But while it might be easy to chalk up the loss to a rookie’s struggles, that stance misses the larger picture.

Washington’s defense, which coming into the season was clearly viewed as the strength of the franchise, has given up 30 points or more in three straight contests, with opposing teams combining for 120 points through four games. That’s not nearly good enough.

For just the sixth time in the Super Bowl era, a defense intercepted four passes and had at least nine sacks as the Buffalo Bills soundly defeated the Washington Commanders, 37-3.

And just like that, the honeymoon period for quarterback Sam Howell and friends is over. On the field and off it, the vibes have been largely positive as the local fanbase enjoys the beginning of the post-Daniel Snyder era. A new ownership group, led by Josh Harris, Magic Johnson and others, has distracted folks from some otherwise troubling trends so far this season.

For starters, Howell has been sacked 19 times through three games. Not only is that the most sacks allowed this season (six more than the next closest team) — it’s the most any offense has allowed three games into a season since 2005.

The Buffalo stampede was constant, as the Bills pressured Howell on 27 of 39 drop backs (69 percent). The first-year starter responded by completing 19 of 29 passes for 170 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions.

When Howell wasn’t turning the ball over, the offense still couldn’t get out of its own way. Running back Antonio Gibson only had five touches on the day but still managed to fumble for the second time in three games, the majority of the offensive line continues to look overwhelmed, and Washington converted just one of nine third-down attempts on the day.

Buffalo’s nine sacks were the most since the franchise registered 10 — against Washington — back in 2011. John Beck was the quarterback that day in Toronto, in one of the worst games during my 19 seasons on the sidelines. And yet, somehow, this showing was far worse. Howell has been pressured a league-high 15.4 percent of his drop backs, which isn’t going to change unless he starts to get rid of the ball quicker and/or the offensive line collectively steps up its game.

One of the more troubling trends during Ron Rivera’s time in Washington has been his team’s penchant for slow starts. Last season, the Commanders dropped four of their first five games to start the season. In 2021, Washington lost six of the eight opening games on the schedule. And in Rivera’s first season, the burgundy and gold lost six of seven.

Two games into the 2023 season, the Commanders once again appear content to make life more difficult on themselves. During their season opener, Arizona entered the fourth quarter with a 16-10 lead before the defense stepped up to seize the game for Washington. One week later, the Commanders looked completely jet lagged as Denver raced out to a far-too-easy 21-3 first half lead.

Fortunately for Rivera and friends, the entire Broncos roster appeared disinterested in playing past halftime — enabling Washington to rally from 18 points down to defeat Denver 35-33 at Empower Field at Mile High. The defense once again woke up after halftime and finished the day with seven sacks and two turnovers. On offense, Eric Bieniemy’s group was finally able to move the ball — scoring touchdowns on drives of 57, 75 and 64 yards — to turn momentum completely in favor of the visitors.

With the win, Washington improved to 2-0. But any objective observer should see the team’s lackadaisical approach to the first half is a recipe for disaster. Arizona and Denver are both giving off vibes of teams that will be in the bottom half of the league standings. Better opponents remain on the schedule and will have little trouble capitalizing on such a substantial head start.

To outside observers, the Washington Commanders hosting the Arizona Cardinals was one of the least attractive matchups of Week 1. And sure, there are more compelling ways to kick off your NFL action than with two franchises with zero expectations this season, but that thought process missed the bigger picture.

For the first time in more than two decades, Daniel Snyder is no longer involved with the local professional football team. The toxic little dictator who ran a once-proud franchise into the ground is finally gone, giving the fanbase legitimate cause for optimism for the first time in ages. This explains why Washington, which hasn’t won a playoff game since 2005, had a bevy of celebrities and iconic former players in attendance Sunday.

Kevin Durant. Joel Embiid. Alex Ovechkin. Lindsay Vonn. Wale. Magic Johnson.

Champ Bailey. John Riggins. Sonny Jurgensen. Billy Kilmer. Joe Theismann. Dexter Manley. Charles Mann. Clinton Portis. Santana Moss. London Fletcher. Robert Griffin III.

Those big names, as well as 65,000 of their closest friends, packed into a sold-out FedEx Field to witness the dawn of a new day for the Commanders. And what they got was … well … a work in progress.

Quarterback Sam Howell and the Commanders’ offense had an uneven showing, turning the ball over three times and allowing six sacks. The fifth rounder and the offensive line were both highlighted as potential areas of concern by objective outsiders coming into the season, and both lived up to the billing. To that end, Washington actually trailed 16-10 at halftime, even though Arizona is widely considered the team most likely to tank this season away in hopes of a better draft pick.

The defense, led by defensive end Montez Sweat’s two forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks, created two fourth-quarter turnovers paving the way to a much-needed 20-16 victory. That said, while it’s nice to officially kick off the new era with a win, the Commanders clearly still have plenty of areas to improve upon moving forward. Better teams will come to town and be better prepared to capitalize on the types of mistakes that are easily overlooked against a mediocre opponent like the Cardinals.