LANDOVER, Md. — The Panthers were depleted on defense, but they've been depleted on defense.

Sunday, mistakes on the other side of the ball were their undoing, and it happened early.

A pair of Andy Dalton interceptions in the first quarter put the Panthers in an early hole that they never climbed out of in a 40-7 loss at Washington.

On the game's first possession, an impressive drive came undone and seemed to take the rest of the game with it.

Dalton, looking for Miles Sanders on a third-down screen, instead found linebacker Dante Fowler Jr., who took the interception 67 yards for a touchdown.

Then they followed with a three-and-out, and another quick interception, setting the stage for the rest of the day.

The Panthers gained just 180 yards, 95 on the ground, had just 10 first downs, and were 3-of-10 on third-down conversions. Dalton finished 11-of-16 passing for 93 yards, with the two picks.

Meanwhile, Washington (the league's second-highest scoring offense entering the game) finished with 421 yards and 214 of them on the ground.

— For the second time in three weeks, Bryce Young came in to finish the game late, as he did in Chicago.

Young finished 2-of-2 passing for minus-4 yards in his one possession.

— The 33-point loss was the eighth-biggest margin in franchise history.

They lost the opener by 37 at New Orleans, which was then the fourth-worst margin in franchise history (trailing a 43-point loss at Oakland in 2000, a 41-point loss to the Falcons at home in 2002, and a 38-point loss at San Francisco in 2019).

— The game changed early when Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels left with a rib injury.

It was 10-0 at that point when backup quarterback Marcus Mariota took over for the rest of the game. (Daniels came out for the second half in street clothes.)

There were moments in the first half when the defense appeared to be playing gamely. But Washington was able to run at its leisure. At one point, 131 of the Commanders' 135 yards had come on the ground.

Mariota started passing the ball (and well) late in the first half, with a two-minute drive capped by a touchdown pass to Zach Ertz that made it 27-0 at the break.

— Of course, there's a reason the defense was struggling.

They opened the game without six of their seven projected starters in the defensive front seven.

Only nose tackle Shy Tuttle remained from the intended group, as defensive end A'Shawn Robinson, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, and linebacker Josey Jewell were inactive Sunday with shorter-term injuries. Adding that to having Derrick Brown and Shaq Thompson on season-ending injured reserve and D.J. Wonnum on the physically unable to perform list, there was no margin of error for the replacements.

— Kick returner Raheem Blackshear left the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return.

That left Xavier Legette and David Moore back there for the rest of the game.