The Washington Commanders suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, 34-27. Here are five takeaways from the matchup.

1. The defense had a hard time making tackles.

There were a few frustrating components of the Commanders' loss, but something that caused the most ire was how the defense couldn't seem to get the Falcons on the ground.

Pro Football Focus' early accounting of the game had the Commanders missing 12 tackles on the Falcons' skill players, marking one of the team's worst performances in the category so far this season. Most of those misses came up front, as the combination of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier plowed through arm tackles and shrugged off attempted stops in the backfield to make positive gains.

One of the most blatant examples of this came on Robinson's 14-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Robinson juked his way through the Commanders' defense and broke two tackles before spinning into the end zone to make the score 17-7. Another frustrating play came at the end of the third quarter, when Allgeier fought through an attempted tackle by Von Miller and ran in for a 15-yard touchdown.

The missed tackles will be something for the Commanders to clean up in the coming days. They were often in the right spots to make plays against the Falcons, but they must find ways to finish plays to keep their season afloat.

2. The offense left meat on the bone.

Washington's offense found a way to score on nearly every drive against the Falcons, but there's an argument to be made that they could have scored more than the 27 points they ended up with.

While it was a good day for kicker Matt Gay, who hit all four of his field goal attempts, the Commanders had to call on his services after their offense stalled outside of the red zone -- often because of their own mistakes. An intentional grounding penalty on Marcus Mariota moved the offense back to the Falcons' 39-yard line. A false start penalty by Zach Ertz moved the Commanders back from a third-and-2 at the Falcons' 29-yard line to a third-and-7. They also only moved the ball two yards following Mike Sainristil's interception that set them up at the 25-yard line.

Meanwhile, the Falcons were answering those field goals with touchdowns and moving down the field with ease at times. Granted, the Commanders' offense hasn't been at full strength for the past two weeks, but with several difficult opponents coming up on the schedule, they can't afford for the unit to sputter.

3. Special teams is still performing well.

No unit was perfect for the Commanders, but their special teams group had another solid showing against the Falcons.

Most of the success came on the kickoff return unit, which featured Luke McCaffrey as the primary returner since Deebo Samuel took on more offensive snaps. McCaffrey had six returns for 199 yards, including a 58-yard return that set up Washington's offense at the Falcons' 41-yard line. That helped put the Commanders at the top of the league in average kickoff return yardage (33.7) and sixth in total yards (506).

Washington's other special teams units delivered strong performances as well. Gay had his best game of the season so far with four field goals, giving him his first perfect day of the season. The punt team allowed zero return yards, and Tress Way had 89 yards on two punts.

It wasn't a mistake-free day on special teams -- Jaylin Lane was held in check as a punt returner and nearly gave the ball away on a muffed punt -- but the group has continued to find ways to help put the offense in good positions.

4. Atlanta's skill players had a strong day.

While the Commanders struggled to remain consistent, the same could not be said for the Falcons, whose skill players created several problems for the Commanders' defense.

It starts with quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who only had six incompletions and a career-high 313 yards. Drake London -- his favorite target -- caught eight of his 10 targets for 110 yards, including a 43-yarder in the first quarter. Robinson had nearly 200 yards of offense by himself, helped by a 69-yard catch-and-run that would have been a touchdown had it not been for Jeremy Reaves hawking him down.

By the end of the game, the trio of London, Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts, who also scored a touchdown, combined for 361 yards and three touchdowns -- more than the Commanders' entire offense. It won't get any easier for the Commanders in the coming weeks, as they have the Los Angeles Chargers, led by quarterback Justin Herbert, next on the schedule.

5. There's still time to bounce back.

The Commanders have had an up-and-down start to the season. There are several reasons for this, some of which have not been under their control. There are several injuries on both sides of the ball, dramatically shrinking the margin for error as Washington's backups have tried to pick up the slack.

As frustrated as the Commanders have been at times, there is plenty of time for them to reach the standard they set for themselves last offseason.

That's not to say that things will get easier. Sunday's game was the last 1 p.m. matchup they'll have until Week 14, and there are games against the Chiefs, Lions, Cowboys and Seahawks between now and December. There's also the international game against the Dolphins to look forward to, which can be a mentally and physically draining situation.

With that said, the hope is that the Commanders will get healthier in the coming weeks. Jayden Daniels could make his return soon, and Sam Cosmi's window to be activated has officially opened. Newcomers like Preston Smith and Darnell Savage should be more ingratiated into the defense, allowing them to be more meaningful contributors.

It's understandable for the Commanders to be frustrated with the past month, but that doesn't mean they're going to give up on the season.