But after officials reviewed the play, they determined that Gabriel had indeed gotten both feet inbounds for a touchdown. The Bears led 28-0 at that point, demoralizing Norman and a defense that gave up at least 31 points for a third straight loss to open the season.

The lackluster performance was compounded by the fact that it came against Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who had struggled with his accuracy through his first two games and had not thrown a touchdown pass. Trubisky had three in the first half alone — all to the speedy Gabriel, defended by Norman, at least in part — and finished 25 for 31 for 231 yards on a night when he rarely faced pressure. Washington’s defense created no turnovers, and its offense ­committed five.

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A week after Coach Jay Gruden called defensive coordinator Greg Manusky’s unit “vanilla” in a loss to Dallas, Manusky’s defense again looked bland and incapable of big plays Monday.

“We just have to keep pushing, man. We just have to keep pushing. This thing is a sprint, not a marathon,” Norman said. “It’s the first quarter of the season. Right now we’re 0-3. … All we can do is look forward to the Giants, go in there and get a win.”

That game at New York this Sunday, against a Giants team reinvigorated by rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, will be considered a must-win for these Redskins, who were searching for answers to the same bitter questions Monday night. Were miscommunication and missed assignments to blame for the defense’s poor first half start? Was it the scheme that couldn’t stop the struggling Trubisky? Is it the fault of Manusky, the third-year ­coordinator who has received plenty of criticism recently? And what could this unit possibly do this week to turn everything around and save the season?

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Most members of the defense didn’t have solid answers.

“You look at the film, we’re just not getting pass rush, letting guys get wide open. The defense isn’t communicating. We’re just not doing the little things right,” defensive lineman Jonathan Allen said. “There’s no secret recipe to play good defense, to play hard, play physical and communicate. We have to find out where the lack of communication, physicality and ­effort is, starting with myself.”

“We stand together. Just have to build something,” safety Landon Collins said. “Somebody’s got to do something.”

There was little pressure by Washington on Trubisky, who entered Monday night having struggled with his accuracy. He broke his no-touchdown streak on a second-and-goal play from the Washington 3-yard line, when Chicago ran its grouping of receivers one direction into the end zone and Gabriel slipped through traffic underneath to the backside. Linebacker Ryan Anderson froze and watched Gabriel run by him. He was all alone. Trubisky probably had enough room to run it in himself, but he opted to flip the ball to Gabriel for a three-yard score.

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“You can’t get a beat on what they do. They have good personnel,” outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan said.

On the next possession, after Norman had interfered with Gabriel in the end zone, Trubisky found Gabriel on a one-yard pass to make it 21-0. A few minutes later, that was followed by the 36-yard strike from Trubisky to Gabriel, who tapped his feet just inside the pylon to score. Norman questioned the officiating on that play and others afterward.

“Let us play, man,” Norman said, shaking his head.

Washington, which has given up an average of 402 yards in its first three games and ranks 26th in the NFL in total defense, stiffened in the second half. Norman came up with an interception after Trubisky underthrew a pass to Allen Robinson at the goal line in the third quarter to keep the Redskins’ faint hopes alive. It was too late. After it was over, Norman returned to his stall and was among the last to leave a silent locker room. He remained optimistic that his unit would “catch a break” as it moves on to New York, yet there were still so many lingering questions.

“The only thing we can do is just show up, put on our hard hats and go to work,” Norman said. “That’s all we have, and that’s all we can do.”