The Washington Commanders wore dejected looks as they tried to process their loss to the Denver Broncos. It was their seventh straight, and while it didn't mathematically eliminate them from the playoffs, it did ensure they will finish the year with a losing record.

But this defeat was a bit different from the others, and head coach Dan Quinn made sure the players knew that during his postgame speech to the team.

"We lost," he said on the debut of this year's in-season Hard Knocks on HBO Max, "but we're not lost anymore."

The quote summed up the biggest takeaway from the overtime home defeat. The Commanders, whose season has been upended by injuries and other factors, took the Broncos -- one of a few teams in the running for the No. 1 seed in the AFC -- to the brink and were one batted pass away from upsetting them. It was the best the team had looked in months, and for a few moments, it resembled the version of itself that many expected it to be in 2025.

Although the Commanders would rather have won, they proved they can return to the standard they set for themselves. And that's one consolation Quinn and his players will take for the final five games.

"Capturing standards together," Quinn said. "I think that's what it's all about."

While the Commanders' game against the Miami Dolphins in Spain was also a return to form, the previous weeks were so far from what they showed in 2024 that it prompted Quinn to say the team was "off course." They suffered four losses of at least 20 points for four consecutive weeks, including two blowout losses in primetime. Granted, there were understandable reasons for their struggles with several key players recovering from injuries, but no one on the roster was using that as an excuse.

Last Sunday's game, while still a loss, was closer to what the Commanders expected of themselves. Marcus Mariota led an offense that put up 419 yards -- their best performance since Week 1 and just the second time this year that an offense put up that many yards against the Broncos' defense. Their 26 points were the most the Commanders had put up in a single game since Week 5. They put up 143 rushing yards, moving them to No. 3 in average yards per game. It also marked Terry McLaurin's return to the lineup, and he looked like himself with 95 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Commanders built on the improvements they showed against the Dolphins with a better performance against the Broncos. They forced four punts from Bo Nix and the Broncos' offense in the fourth quarter and limited explosive plays. While the Broncos still put up 402 yards, it felt as if they had to earn the progress they made down the field more than what other opposing teams experienced in previous weeks.

In an unusual way, Quinn said, it was the Commanders' best "group game."

"It's hard to say it was our best game, because you had a loss. But I thought from a performance, if you didn't have that part, the performance side, I thought this was connected. This was a punt for field position, this was getting a stop, this was making a play."

Quinn also saw better individual performances from players. The offensive line featured multiple standout performances, from Sam Cosmi, who Quinn said had his best game of the season against the Broncos, to Laremy Tunsil, who allowed just two pressures when matched up against Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto. On defense, cornerback Mike Sainristil had one of his best games of the season, allowing just four receptions for 22 yards while lined up as a perimeter cornerback.

Quinn said the team played the entire game with a "next play mindset."

"There was zero flinch on the offense, and it wasn't like, 'Oh here we go,' none of that. We got stopped in the fourth quarter offensively; the defense was ready to go get a stop. And so, I thought there was this resilience for the next play. If that one went to six quarters, we were going to be down to fight."

Although Quinn admitted the last two overtime losses "stung a lot," the Commanders showed that they don't have any plans to quit on the season with five games left on the schedule. They intend to win as many of them as they can, because that kind of momentum can carry over into next year. There also remains plenty to learn about the roster between seeing how much the defense can improve to getting the offense up to full strength.

The Commanders also want to ensure that their standard doesn't change, regardless of the circumstance, and that is just as important to Quinn as getting a better look at his personnel for the future.

"It's really important building those habits for everybody who's coming back here knowing this is the standard. This is what we like," Quinn said. "It's not rules; it's standards, and it's not something you follow. This is how we do things, and I think that's a big difference."