The Washington Commanders fell to 4-11 with a 29-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Here are five takeaways from the defeat.

1. Updates on Marcus Mariota.

The Commanders suffered another round of injuries on Saturday, but the biggest blow of the night came when Mariota went down on the opening drive of the third quarter. Mariota went into the tent and then into the locker room after taking a two-yard sack on a third-and-nine. He was never ruled out, but it was clear the Commanders had no intention of putting him back into the game.

Mariota, who was supposed to be the Commanders' starter for the final three games, suffered multiple injuries from the sack. He was evaluated for a concussion and later cleared but tweaked his quad and cut his hand on a cleat. Head coach Dan Quinn said on Sunday that Mariota got stitches for his cut and is considered "day-to-day."

The Commanders have limited options at quarterback, assuming Mariota is unavailable for Christmas Day. They could stick with Josh Johnson, who stepped in for Mariota and finished the game. They could look for help outside the organization, which Quinn said the team would consider, or even elevate Sam Hartman from the practice squad. Quinn said the team would discuss their options and come back with an answer later in the week.

2. A fast start.

Although the game had an ugly finish, it didn't start out that way. Actually, it might have been one of the best opening sequences the Commanders had all season.

The Commanders' coaching staff has preached the importance of generating turnovers since they arrived in the DMV. The team has struggled at times to bring that philosophy to life, but they managed to pull it off on the opening kickoff, when Mike Sainristil popped the ball from Will Shipley's grasp and Kain Medrano recovered it at the Eagles' 26-yard line.

Washington's offense got to work and covered 24 yards in eight plays, getting down to the Eagles' 2-yard line before having to settle for a field goal. Although getting three points instead of seven inside the 5-yard line wasn't ideal, it marked the fourth time this season that the Commanders scored points on their opening drive of a game.

That doesn't cover up the issues Washington had on Saturday, but it was another example of how the Commanders are continuing to fight despite being eliminated from playoff contention.

3. The defense held its own to start the game.

The Eagles' offense isn't the top unit it was last season, but it was still a daunting task for a Commanders team that is down several key defensive players. While the Eagles did end up with respectable numbers, averaging 5.8 yards per play, things didn't get out of hand until the end.

The Commanders' defense got an early win by forcing a three-and-out on the Eagles' opening drive. After that, the Eagles managed to move the ball, but it seemed like a laborious effort aside from their seven-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. They kept Saquon Barkley bottled up for the most part -- his longest run of the first half resulted in just a 10-yard gain -- and stopped the Eagles on all three of their first down attempts.

The Eagles' seven points in the first half marked the third time in four games that they were held to a touchdown or fewer in the first two quarters.

Things changed in the second half, though, as the Eagles started to find some momentum. They scored three touchdowns on their five second-half drives and put up 22 points before the Commanders could muster a response. Barkley, in typical fashion, found open lanes in the fourth quarter and had a 48-yard sprint with less than seven minutes left to play. He finished the night with 132 yards, while Jalen Hurts completed 73% of his passes with 225 total yards.

The Commanders have insisted that they have no plans of quitting on the season, and the first-half performance from the defense shows that they're keeping to that promise. However, the second half served as another reminder that the unit still has plenty of room for improvement.

4. The offense struggled without Mariota.

On the other side of the ball, the Commanders' offense wasn't lighting up the Eagles but was operating cleanly enough to move down the field and even put together a lead at halftime. It looked like things would stay the same on the first play of the second half, as Mariota connected with Treylon Burks for a 24-yard pickup. Once Mariota got hurt, though, the offense had a much more difficult time.

It's worth noting that while Johnson completed five of his nine pass attempts for 43 yards and an interception, no one in the locker room blamed him for how the offense looked in the second half. The entire unit struggled and only put up 127 yards in the final two quarters. Most of that came from the Commanders' final drive of the game, and about half of that came off a 37-yard pass interference penalty. The running game, which had been efficient in the first half, only had 38 yards to close out the second half.

The Commanders' offense had several factors working against it, but none of the players are using that as an excuse. They know their performance needs to improve if they intend to be competitive in the final two games.

5. A quick turnaround.

The Commanders don't have time to think about Saturday's game. They have one more home game left this season, and it's coming against the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Day this Thursday.

The season certainly hasn't gone the way the Commanders hoped it would. Injuries played a serious part in their 4-11 record, but it doesn't change that their situation is drastically different from what it was this time last year. The players wore that disappointment on their faces in the locker room on Saturday, as positive moments have been limited in the past three months.

But the Commanders are not looking to close out the season on a sour note. They want to compete and win on Christmas and are willing to do whatever it takes to get one last home victory.

"Although the playoffs are out of reach, you still wanna win," McLaurin said. "You don't go through all this process not to have a chance to win. So, I know our focus is gonna be on getting right this week on a short week and feed off the energy of getting to play on Christmas."