The Washington Commanders turned things around on Sunday.

After two miserable and frustrating defensive series, where the Chargers effortlessly moved the football and scored twice, the Commanders turned up the intensity and looked like a completely different team, defeating the Chargers 27-10 in Los Angeles.

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“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Yes, yes, I know; it’s an old saying used too often. But it certainly fit this Commanders’ game. You see, after two possessions, the Commanders only had one first down, two punts, and zero points. Meanwhile, in their two possessions, the Chargers looked to be one step quicker than the Commanders on nearly every play, scoring twice for a 10-0 lead.

In fact, after two possessions for each team, the Chargers had the ball for 10:35, compared to 4:25 for the Commanders. The Chargers out-rushed the Commanders 69-23 and out-passed them 54-7, for a total offense of 123-30. It was ugly!

Suddenly, the Commanders’ offense came back to life, driving 74 yards in nine plays. Included in the drive was a 3rd & 16 Jayden Daniels to Jaylin Lane 16-yard gain for a first down. Then, Daniels ran seven yards for a first down, found Deebo Samuel for 21 yards, and Bill Croskey-Merritt ran for 9 yards and 15 yards, and the Commanders had life, only trailing 10-7.

Next possession, Tress Way was roughed punting from the end zone. So, Daniels told Luke McCaffrey to show everyone he can be a deep threat, and Daniels connected with him for 50 50-yard gain! After a 22-yard pass from Daniels to Deebo, Matt Gay came on to tie the game as the half ended.

The game was tied, yet the Commanders must have thought the game was theirs for the taking. Washington took the second-half kickoff straight down the field 69 yards in seven plays, the last being a 5-yard “Bill” touchdown run, and Washington led 17-10.

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It would have been a touchdown on the next drive, but Chris Moore dropped a touchdown pass. So the Commanders had to settle for another Matt Gay field goal and a 20-10 lead.

The Chargers threatened when Croskey-Merritt fumbled, but drove inside the ten. However, Mike Sainristil intercepted Justin Herbert at the 1-yard line. The Commanders drove 99 yards for the final score, an 8-yard Daniels to Samuel touchdown pass, when everyone in the stadium but Kliff Kingsbury knew it would be a run-call.

So, from 10 points down, to 27 unanswered Commanders points. The Commanders really did turn things around in Los Angeles on Sunday.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: An impressive turnaround in win over Chargers