LANDOVER, Md. -- The Washington Commanders made life difficult for themselves with a bad start to the season. They bounced back. Now, they once more have made their lives tougher after losing to the New York Giants on Sunday. And once more, they need to bounce back. Or else.

Otherwise, they’ll end up missing the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons.

“We can’t really feel sorry for ourselves,” Washington receiver Terry McLaurin said after the 20-12 loss to New York. “This is adversity for our team and we just have to show up when it matters most.”

The Commanders (7-6-1) still have the seventh and final playoff spot, but have a tougher road than at least one of the teams behind them, the Detroit Lions (7-7). The Lions, who sit ninth, finish with three games against teams under .500 -- the Carolina Panthers (5-9), Chicago Bears (3-11) and Green Bay Packers (6-8).

Washington must play at the San Francisco 49ers (10-4) Saturday (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS) before hosting the Cleveland Browns (6-8) and closing with the Dallas Cowboys (10-4). The Cowboys might end up resting starters in the finale if their playoff seeding can’t change.

The Seattle Seahawks (7-7), who are eighth, play the Kansas City Chiefs (11-3), the New York Jets (7-7) and Los Angeles Rams (4-10). If Washington wins two of three, the Seahawks would need to sweep this trio to earn a spot.

The Commanders turned a 1-4 start into a 7-5 record three weeks ago. Now, they just need to overcome an 0-1-1 stretch.

“We're in a very precarious situation right now,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said.

Washington remains hopeful, but there are three areas that could help the Commanders clinch a spot:

Red zone improvement

This has been a sore spot all season, but in the last seven weeks, despite a 4-2-1 record, Washington has been particularly bad in this area. In a tie and loss to the Giants, the Commanders converted just two of five red zone drives into touchdowns. One score was nullified by a controversial illegal formation call on McLaurin, but it’s still an area that cost them in both games.

For the season, Washington ranks 23rd in the red zone -- in the last eight games the Commanders are 25th.

Heinicke has completed 14 of 31 passes in the red zone with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. However, he did lose a fumble Sunday night. Last season, he completed 29 of 48 passes with 12 touchdowns in the red zone. But he also threw two interceptions in two losses.

“It’s an area where you want to be aggressive to get touchdowns, but not too aggressive to put the ball in risk,” Heinicke said. “Last year, I was either too conservative or too risky. This year, I’m more in the middle but can still be more aggressive. For me, in the worst case [scenario] we get three points.”

At 6-foot-1, Heinicke’s vision can be obstructed in this area too. That happened three weeks ago in New York when his line of sight was blocked by the linemen, preventing him from seeing an open Jahan Dotson in the back of the end zone.

“In the red zone you want to see them open so you don’t throw blindly,” he said.

Rivera said he wants Heinicke to make his reads faster.

“When the space is condensed, you've got to get through it quickly,” Rivera said. “A couple times he's kind of waited a little bit to try and give the guy an opportunity to get to the window or to another window and then go to another guy ... we've got to keep that clock in his head going.”

If the Commanders continue to struggle in the red zone, it could trigger the return of quarterback Carson Wentz. Heinicke will start against San Francisco, but with Wentz finally back from a broken right ring finger, Rivera could turn to him, hoping he could provide an answer.

The run game could help more too. For the season, Washington has run the ball 55 times in the red zone and attempted 55 passes. In the last three weeks, with the run game functioning at a higher level, the Commanders have attempted 13 passes and run five times inside the 20.

“We have to not be in situations where you feel you have to throw the ball,” Rivera said. “Keeping the option of being able to run it, it opens up so much more.”

Dotson said it comes down to execution.

“It's hard enough to drive the football in this league and convert first downs over and over again,” Dotson said. “So, when you get in the red zone, you have to score, you can’t settle for field goals. You especially can’t give the ball back to the opposing team without any type of points.”

Stay committed to the run

It’s not just inside the red zone. And, more specifically, stay committed to rookie running back Brian Robinson. In his last three games, he has rushed for a combined 290 yards and 5.69 yards per carry. Yet, in the second half against the Giants, he carried only four times and gained 35 yards. This after eight carries for 54 yards in the first half.

Some of that stemmed from throwing more successfully in the final two quarters. New York also possessed the ball for 17 minutes, six seconds in the second half, limiting Washington’s chances. Still, Robinson has become a powerful runner. And in his last three games, he has one red zone carry -- a second one resulted in a touchdown nullified by a penalty Sunday night.

Washington needs to somehow find a balance between wanting to involve their wide receiver playmakers -- McLaurin, Dotson and Curtis Samuel -- yet sticking to what the offense needs to center around. Even if Washington goes back to the strong-armed Wentz, it must continue with the run-first identity it has forged during a 5-2-1 stretch without him.

The problem Saturday: San Francisco ranks first in rushing yards allowed per game and per carry. But the final two opponents -- Cleveland and Dallas -- are tied for 24th in rushing yards per game and are 29th and 22nd, respectively, in yards per carry.

“I do most certainly think that's part of our winning formula,” Rivera said of the run game, “because it validates your play action, it validates bootlegs, it validates keepers and stuff like that. So that's something that we've got to continue to focus on and stay focused on it.”

Get healthy

Washington corner Benjamin St-Juste, who sprained his right ankle in the Week 11 win over the Houston Texans, was close to returning against the Giants. Instead, he missed his third consecutive game.

Both Rivera and St-Juste said they expect him to play. Rivera said with St-Juste in the game, they can use more variety in their coverages.

The Commanders also are waiting on defensive end Chase Young to return. He returned to practice on Nov. 2 but hasn’t yet played. Young not only tore his right ACL on Nov. 14, he also ruptured his patella tendon, which complicated -- and lengthened -- his recovery.

Coaches have said Young needs to gain full confidence in his ability to take on blockers and play without fear of getting hurt again. To help alleviate any fears, Dr. James Andrews, who performed the surgery, checked him out before Sunday’s game and, Rivera said, told Young the knee was good.

Rivera said Young will play this season and could do so as soon as Saturday at San Francisco.

When he does play, Young would be limited to around 10 to 15 snaps. While he would not return to the level he wants to be immediately -- and might not do so until early next season -- he would add another athletic end opposite Montez Sweat.

“We need all hands on deck,” Rivera said. “This is what you live for, this is the crunch time of it, and you’ve got to want to be there and do whatever you can to get on the field. Hopefully, some of these guys are healthy enough and ready to go because we're not going to expose anybody that's not ready. But if a guy can come and make it and, and be out there to help us, we'd sure love to have them on the field.”