BIG GAME: Bengals’ Cam Taylor-Britt was Pro Football Focus’ top-rated cornerback in coverage over the weekend and was in a tight connection with Commanders No. 1 receiver Terry McLaurin when McLaurin made one of the key plays of the game. Late in the first half, he darted past Taylor-Britt up the middle and threw a 55-yard pass that moved the ball to the Bengals’ 4-yard line and led to Daniels’ touchdown run that made it 21-10.

“I knew the deep shot was coming, but at the end of the day I have to run,” Taylor-Britt said. “That’s the kind of guy you’re after. I had no chance of catching him. I wasn’t under pressure, I was off. He forced me to the outside. I have to get open and run. Good guy. You know what kind of receiver he is. I never buy that from him. But it was my technique.”

2^ND-AND-20: Burrow said if there was one common denominator from the first three weeks, it would be: “We had opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them.”

The defense had a great opportunity to regain possession when the Bengals trailed 31-26 with 9:42 left.

But they let the Commanders overcome a second-and-20 attempt with three passes of eight, eight and nine yards, the last of which was a killer fourth-and-4 where Daniels worked against the blitz and found tight end Zach Ertz ahead of safety Vonn Bell. They didn’t get the ball back until 2:10 left, trailing by 12 points.

Seven times the Commanders offense had a third and two attempt or a fourth and two attempt or something shorter. Six times they made it on the first attempt.

“That’s just too manageable. That’s usually a lot better for the offense than the defense,” Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson said. “(Daniels) took what we gave him when he could. The first couple of tries, and if it doesn’t work out, he just has to find a way to get some yards. And it’s second-and-5 and then third and second and third and manageable. We just couldn’t find a way to get them off the chain. We didn’t have any TFLs or anything like that to throw them off track.”

Wilson and teammate Germaine Pratt led the team with nine tackles each. They have combined for 33 tackles this season, the most tackles in the first three weeks of a season since at least 1987.

On the final drive of the fourth quarter, Pratt almost made his signature turnover when he fumbled Ertz on the first play at Washington’s 31-yard line, but an offensive lineman recovered it on the ground.

“They scored every time they had the opportunity. We have to get a stop. That’s what it came down to,” said left end Sam Hubbard. “It felt like we never had their pace and their confusion under control.”

Bengals safety Geno Stone said Daniels’ speed was a factor.

“They rushed us too much and made us slow down too quickly. That’s on us,” Stone said. “We need to communicate and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Wilson says the Bengals need to learn to win close games again.

“All three games we lost were one-possession games,” Wilson said. “In this league, you have to find a way to win those.”