It was about the details, the smallest details, that the Washington Commanders were missing Sunday. At times all season, those missing details have kept them from playing full games to their potential, despite stringing together a couple of good quarters, a few good drives, a memorable play here and another there.

“Just the little things, just a couple more details that we have to be a little more …” Rivera said before pausing and letting out a sigh. “Good with,” he finished. “Because if we are — I mean, you saw us. We played a very good team out there. We have a chance. But let’s start winning.”

Four takeaways from the Commanders’ loss to the Eagles

What really got Rivera heated Sunday was Washington’s final series in regulation, when Howell guided the offense on a 64-yard drive that he capped with a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jahan Dotson. The score tied the game at 31 as time expired, forcing overtime.

“We’ve had a couple of drives like that this year already, but to do it against that team, that to me was very impressive,” Rivera said. He paused again, then punched the lectern before continuing. “There’s no moral victories, you know. But we are going to learn from it, and I think this is going to help us going forward.”

A week after the Buffalo Bills mangled the Commanders’ offense, Washington traveled to Philadelphia, heeding a call from coaches, who reminded players that the truest test of their mettle was how they would bounce back from an embarrassing defeat. For much of the game, Washington met the challenge. It scored on its first two possessions — a feat it has accomplished only one other time since the start of 2020 — and jumped to a 17-10 lead at the half.

The offense appeared balanced and aggressive in the first half, collecting 14 first downs, compared with Philadelphia’s eight, and netting 192 yards. The Eagles had only 138 in that span.

The offensive line protected well, allowing Howell to unload the ball quickly. The receivers’ routes were spaced out and timed up with his throws. And for a while, the details that had derailed the group a week earlier appeared to be corrected, largely because of Howell’s play.

“He learned from last week,” Rivera said. “He grew, and he got better.”

Howell completed 13 of 17 pass attempts in the first half for 161 yards and a 105.3 passer rating, outdueling Jalen Hurts, who had 116 passing yards for a 94.8 rating before halftime.

Howell finished with a 70.7 completion percentage, 290 yards, a touchdown and a 98.6 rating. His play spurred an impressive showing by the offense, which cleaned up many past mistakes and again flashed its resilience.

“It is a tough loss for us,” Howell said. “It was definitely a game I think we should have won and we were capable of winning, but I am proud of the guys on how we fought until the end. We gave [ourselves] a chance to take it to overtime.”

Among the highlights: On the first drive, Washington converted a fourth and one at the Philadelphia 15-yard line with a short run by running back Brian Robinson Jr. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel sealed the drive with a one-yard touchdown on a jet sweep, and though the Eagles responded with a score of their own — a five-yard touchdown run by D’Andre Swift — the Commanders went on the attack again, a mind-set they lacked in the early going of their first three games.

Finally, they were dictating the flow of the game, and it wasn’t long before they were deep in Philadelphia territory again. Robinson lost control of the ball on a run, but wide receiver Terry McLaurin was quick to pounce on it in the end zone for a touchdown.

Svrluga: The NFL has no moral victories. But for the Commanders, this came close.

The details were there; Washington wasn’t perfect, but it played much of the first half with enough awareness to recoup its brief losses. It wasn’t until the final two minutes of the half that the details started to go missing again. The Commanders were given a gift in the red zone from the Eagles, a pass interference penalty on cornerback James Bradberry that moved them up to the Philadelphia 10-yard line. But Howell was sacked, and on the next play, Antonio Gibson fumbled. After recovering the ball, Washington was set back to third and 12 and had to settle for a field goal.

The other missing details: the drop by Dotson on a third down in the third quarter and the ensuing punt by Tress Way that sailed only 38 yards.

“That’s a chance right there,” Dotson said of his drop. “That’s a chance for you to keep your offense out on the field; it’s a chance for your defense to get a little more rest [with] three more downs. I take full responsibility for that.”

Then there was an allowed sack and false start penalty on right tackle Andrew Wylie that killed a critical drive in the fourth quarter. Had Washington scored, it could have reclaimed the lead. Instead, it punted, and Philadelphia capitalized.

Then there were the many details rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. missed.

Hurts completed four passes of 28 yards or more Sunday, and all were against Forbes in coverage. DeVonta Smith jumped above Forbes to high-point a 37-yard catch in the final minute of the first half, setting up a field goal before the break. Early in the third quarter, A.J. Brown beat Forbes on the left side for a 28-yard catch that set up another Eagles field goal. Then on Philadelphia’s subsequent drive, Brown beat Forbes again, with a double move, for a 59-yard go-ahead touchdown the Eagles followed with a two-point conversion.

The dagger: Brown’s second 28-yard catch, in the back of the end zone. The score put the Eagles ahead 31-24 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

“I just went out there and competed,” Forbes said. “Did my best. They had a great scheme, and I got beat on some routes. Just some growing moments.”

Yet the Commanders proved resilient time and time again.

After they allowed the Eagles to pull ahead with four consecutive unanswered scores, the Commanders put together a 10-play drive to tie the game at 24 early in the fourth quarter.

Center Nick Gates and left guard Saahdiq Charles worked in tandem to clear a wide line for Robinson on a 15-yard touchdown run. On defense, Forbes bounced back, deflecting a deep pass attempt for Brown on third-and-long to force Philadelphia off the field.

Sam Howell has a sack problem. Can the Commanders solve it?

But those pesky details went missing again in overtime. Howell nearly had McLaurin on a deep pass on third down, but the wideout was ruled out of bounds. Had Howell tweaked his throw ever so slightly, McLaurin might have had it with two feet in bounds, extending the drive.

Instead, Way punted only 29 yards, and the Eagles used nine plays to get kicker Jake Elliott close enough for the winning field goal.

“We had a chance. … The biggest thing for me is just making the most of opportunities when they’re present in front of you because they don’t come back,” Dotson said. “… When you have 10 guys doing the right thing and one guy not, the play goes completely wrong. So it’s all about the little details, all about staying together.”