DENVER (AP) — Jerry Rosburg isn't walking through that door to save the Denver Broncos' head coach from himself like he did a year ago.

When the Broncos jumped out to a 21-3 lead against Washington on Sunday, it seemed the safest of bets that coach Sean Payton would improve to 73-0, including playoffs, when his teams held a lead of 18 points or more.

Russell Wilson's teams in Seattle had never blown that big of a lead.

Denver's defense had sacked Sam Howell three times, rookie speedsters Marvin Mims Jr. and Jaleel McLaughlin had scored their first NFL touchdowns and second-year speedster Brandon Johnson had caught Wilson's third TD throw.

When the Commanders went three-and-out on their next drive, Mims returned the punt 45 yards to the Washington 40-yard line with 7:57 left before halftime.

The rout was on.

After burning his final timeout with 6:46 left in the first half, however, Wilson coughed up the ball at midfield and the Commanders recovered.

The comeback was coming up.

“We give them the ball at midfield, and that momentum shifts at that point with the fumble,” said Payton, who displayed an increasing sense of frustration with Wilson after the Broncos' 35-33 loss to Washington.

All of the problems that plagued the Broncos in their season-opening loss to Las Vegas came roaring back: the costly penalties, the ineffective pass rush, the poor pass protection, an offense that suddenly looked like all those cars that got stuck in the mud at the Burning Man festival.

Another thing that returned: the frustrated fans at Empower Field counting down the play clock like they did for Nathaniel Hackett in Week 2 last year as the rookie coach struggled to get play calls in to Wilson on time.

General manager George Paton responded then by bringing Rosburg out of retirement to help Hackett with game management. When Hackett was fired with a 4-11 record, Rosburg took over and went 1-1 as interim coach before giving way to Payton, who famously criticized Hackett over the summer for doing one of the worst jobs in the history of the NFL.

Now, Payton is off to a worse start than Hackett, who began 2-1 before losing 10 of his last 12 games. The only Broncos head coach to start his tenure worse than 0-2 was Vic Fangio, who lost his first four games in 2019 on his way to a 7-9 record. Mac Speedie lost his first two games in 1965 and finished 4-10.

Back to Sunday and Wilson's fumble, one of two turnovers he had to go with his three touchdown passes.

The Commanders scored 32 of the next 35 points, handing the Broncos back-to-back home losses to start a season for the first time in their history.

“We have to be better than that, and that starts with me,” Payton said.

Payton wasn't pleased with his defense, either, but he seemed particularly peeved about his offense's inefficiency after building the big early lead.

“There were a number of drives where we were late with personnel, getting out of the huddle we took a while. That has to change,” Payton said. “We had to burn timeouts in the first half, and I’m not used to doing that. We have to be better. I have to be better. Russ has to be sharper with getting the play out, and then we have to look at how much we have in. If we need to wristband it, we will.”

WHAT’S WORKING

Mims had 168 all-purpose yards on just five touches. With catches of 53 and 60 yards, Mims became the first Bronco since the AFL-NFL merger to record multiple catches of 50-plus yards in the same game. Throw in his 45-yard punt return and Mims is the first Broncos rookie and eighth NFL rookie since 1998 to record three plays of 45 or more yards in a single game. The only one who could stop him was Payton, who had the second-round pick from Oklahoma stuck on the sideline for most of the second half.

WHAT NEEDS WORK

Communication. Payton's suggestion that he might have Wilson wear a wristband of plays is a callback to last year. The quarterback began wearing a wristband after a tough stretch under Hackett.

STOCK UP

The rookies.

STOCK DOWN

Payton. So far it looks like the same old Broncos, who have committed 19 penalties so far, showing a lack of discipline that's hurting their chances of a turnaround.

INJURIES

Payton provided no update on S Delarrin Turner-Yell, who was dinged up in the fourth quarter. He had gone into the game when S Kareem Jackson was ejected for launching himself at tight end Logan Thomas and hitting him helmet-to-helmet. Jackson faces a potential suspension from the NFL after his second concussion-causing illegal hit this season. He also hurt Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers in Week 1.

KEY NUMBERS

Wilson eclipsed 41,000 passing yards and 5,000 rushing yards for his career on Sunday when he threw for 308 yards and ran for 56 more. He's the only player in NFL history to throw for 40,000 yards and run for 5,000.

NEXT STEPS

The Broncos visit Miami (2-0) on Sunday.

Howell leads big rally for Commanders, who hold on to beat Broncos after Wilson's Hail Mary

DENVER (AP) — Washington cornerback Benjamin St-Juste didn't flinch after Brandon Johnson snared Russell Wilson's 50-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass off a double deflection with no time remaining Sunday.

That cut Washington's lead to 35-33.

St-Juste said he figured, “OK, we got one more opportunity to shut this down and come up with a ‘dub.'

"So, we locked in and made the play,” said St-Juste, who appeared to get away with pass interference when he broke up Wilson's 2-point conversion throw to Courtland Sutton, preserving the Commanders' come-from-behind win. Washington rallied from an early 21-3 deficit to take a 35-24 lead, then had to hang on with no time on the clock.

CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said it looked like St-Juste made enough early contact for a foul, but Brad Rogers’ crew didn’t throw a flag and the Commanders celebrated the franchise’s first 2-0 start since 2011.

The Broncos (0-2) have lost back-to-back home games for the first time, not the kind of history coach Sean Payton was hoping to make in his return to the sideline after a year in the broadcast studio following a highly successful 15-year stint in New Orleans, especially after he criticized predecessor Nathaniel Hackett for doing one of the worst coaching jobs in NFL history last year.

The Broncos lost despite scoring touchdowns on their first three drives for the first time since 2010. Their 18-point blown lead tied for the fourth-largest at home in franchise history.

“This is a resilient team,” Washington's Sam Howell said after throwing for 299 yards and two TDs in his first road start. “The thing I’m proud of is we had each other’s back on both sides of the ball.”

Brian Robinson Jr. added two TD runs, helping the Commanders to the second-biggest comeback in franchise history. Washington overcame a 21-point deficit to beat Detroit on Nov. 4, 1990.

The Commanders used a 32-3 scoring outburst to take control before the Broncos made it interesting at the very end.

With 2 seconds left and the Broncos at the 50-yard line trailing 35-27, Wilson heaved a pass toward the end zone that was deflected by a scrum of players before Johnson snared it for the score.

Wilson threw for 308 yards and three TDs but also had two turnovers.

The last time Denver scored TDs on each of its first three drives was on Nov. 14, 2010, against Kansas City, a game the Broncos went on to win 49-29.

Payton got the ball into his young speedsters' hands early on, and it paid off with undrafted rookie Jaleel McLaughlin scoring on a 5-yard pitch, rookie receiver Marvin Mims Jr. hauling in a 60-yard touchdown pass and second-year wideout Johnson snaring a 16-yard score.

None of the three touched the ball again until Mims got a handoff midway through the third quarter with the score tied at 21.

Mims had two catches for 113 yards on two targets but wasn't thrown to again after Denver's third possession and spent much of the rest of the game on the sideline.

“Some of it's coverage-driven and some of it is just based on what we're in,” Payton said. “We're in a couple of different personnel groupings, so part of that is coincidence, I would say. We had a number of guys we’re trying to get the ball to and we will keep doing that.”

Mims also had a 45-yard punt return, giving him 168 all-purpose yards on five touches.

“Any time he can touch the football is a good thing for us,” Wilson said.

CELEBRATIONS

Washington coach Ron Rivera was presented with a game ball in the locker room for his 100th career win in the NFL, and the Broncos honored their Super Bowl 32 -winning team at halftime.

JACKSON EJECTED

The game turned when Howell threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Logan Thomas on fourth-and-goal and safety Kareem Jackson was ejected for launching himself at the tight end, who suffered a concussion on the play and didn't return.

Jackson also drew a 15-yard flag in the opener for a hit he put on Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers, and Payton was asked if he felt a suspension was possible.

“Gosh, I don't have an answer for you,” he said, “because those things happen so quickly. ... From my vantage point, I only get to see it one time, you look up and they make the call and you've got to go with it.”

With the flag moving the conversion try to the 1, Washington went for 2 and pulled within 21-11 when Robinson got the ball past the plane. Joey Slye's 46-yard field goal as the first half expired made it 21-14. And the Commanders erased the final remnants of their 18-point deficit on Terry McLaurin's 30-yard TD grab on their first drive after halftime.

INJURIES

Commanders: Thomas didn't return after suffering a concussion on his TD.

Broncos: S Delarrin Turner-Yell, who replaced Jackson after he was ejected, sustained an undisclosed injury early in the fourth quarter and went to the locker room. He was replaced by DB Essang Bassey.