3 problems the Commanders must fix before Week 9 game at NY Giants

Commanders must clean up unforced penalties

This nearly cost the Washington Commanders during their first game against the New York Giants at Northwest Stadium in Week 2.

The Commanders drove the ball up and down the field at will. But they repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties in the red zone.

Infringements were the primary reason that Washington's red zone offense was so miserable versus the Giants in their opening battle of the campaign. They had to settle for debutant kicker Austin Seibert’s franchise-record seven field goals to emerge victorious at the death.

It wasn’t just in the red zone.

A penalty nullified veteran running back Austin Ekeler’s opening kickoff return which resulted in a touchdown. Later, Washington had a bewildering five false start penalties in the red zone that stalled out every single drive short of the end zone.

That's an unacceptable number and something that made this game much closer than it needed to be. Ben Sinnott, Nick Allegretti, Cornelius Lucas, and Sam Cosmi were each guilty. The formidable right guard, who is Washington’s best lineman, was guilty twice.

The Commanders seemed to be playing cleaner football over the past several weeks, which was extremely encouraging. But against the Chicago Bears, three more penalties very likely cost the team three touchdowns. They went back into old habits and almost halted Washington's positive momentum.

Both Allegretti and Cosmi were flagged for being illegally downfield on potentially huge plays. The Texas product's penalty took a touchdown off the board and the Allegretti call wiped out a play that would have set the Commanders up inside the five-yard-line.

Earlier, another red zone false start, this time on Trent Scott, resulted in the Commanders settling for another field goal. Unforced errors like these will give the Giants an excellent chance to pull off the upset. Washington must play with composure and discipline in equal measure.