“I think some of it is just missed opportunities,” Rivera said of the Bears’ many explosive plays. “Sometimes it’s not about going after the ball as much as it is about securing the tackle.”

The players reiterated the need to start faster. Asked afterward whether he was shocked by the outcome, wide receiver Terry McLaurin said, “Not really.”

“When you don’t get off to a fast start and a team gets hungry like that — fighting for every play, every yard, and they’re capitalizing — that’s what can happen,” he added. “[Their] record didn’t really matter. … If you don’t come to play, that’s what’s going to happen to you.”

Dick Butkus, legendary Bears linebacker and Hall of Famer, dies at 80

Although the Commanders responded appropriately to open the second half — a 75-yard scoring drive that Howell (37 for 51 for 388 yards, two touchdowns and one interception) capped with a two-yard scoring pass to Logan Thomas and a run for the two-point conversion to make it 27-11 — the costly mistakes continued, watering down any momentum. Thomas fumbled on the Commanders’ next drive.

“The thought process was he was struggling,” Rivera said of benching Forbes. “We were hoping he would bounce back from last week and, you know, we felt it was time to make a move.”

Although Washington came back to make it a 10-point game on a three-yard touchdown catch by Curtis Samuel, it couldn’t get out of its own way long enough to build on it. In position to narrow the Bears’ lead to one score, Slye pushed a 46-yard field goal attempt wide right, sending many fans to the exits.

The complete exodus followed moments later when Fuller missed a tackle, giving Moore a clear lane for a 56-yard touchdown. He finished with eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns. The previous time Washington allowed as many yards to a receiver was Nov. 13, 1966, when future Hall of Famer “Bullet Bob” Hayes collected 246 in the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-30 win.

Among the many other damning stats were the five sacks and 11 hits that Howell took. Although the quarterback assured he “feels good” and will “do whatever it takes to win,” his left tackle had concerns.

already out of hand,” Charles Leno Jr. said. “I feel like that shouldn’t happen. We should take a different route in that aspect. But that’s what the coaches want, and they want to show fight. We want to show fight and want to put some points on the board and show that we’re not quitting for anybody. But there does need to be a little bit of smarts involved in that. We need him for the whole season — not just for a game that’s out of hand already, in my opinion.”

But perhaps the biggest indictment of Washington’s performance was made by Magic Johnson, the NBA legend and Commanders limited partner, who wrote on social media: “We didn’t compete in the first half and got down 27-3 heading into halftime. It was too big of a hole to climb out of and that is why we ended up losing 40-20.”

After the game, Rivera was asked what changes his team can make to stop the bleeding.

“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m not going to sit up here and talk about those things until we get an opportunity to break the tape down … sit down and talk with the staff and go from there.”