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Biggest Achilles' heel: Pass coverage

Washington is tied for 29th in the NFL with seven passing touchdowns of 20 or more yards, and most of those stem from a secondary not in synch with its reads, leading to blown coverages. It ranks 26th in yards allowed per pass attempt and last in the NFL in third-down conversions at 56.5% -- a lot of which is the result of opposing quarterbacks having completed 70.6% of their passes vs. Washington on third down. No defense has allowed a worse number. This isn't just on the secondary, though. The corners have not played as well as anticipated, and the linebackers have blown their share of assignments, too. And the pass rush must be better. -- John Keim

Washington is having a bad season -- and it's unlikely to get much better. Sunday brought another uninspired effort in a 17-10 setback to the Broncos, the fourth straight loss for Ron Rivera's team. The defense has been a huge disappointment in Washington, but the struggles of the offense can't be overlooked. This is especially so in scoring position: Washington has come away with zero points on 10 of its last 13 trips inside the opponents' 30-yard line. That includes two interceptions, three blocked field goals and five turnovers on downs. It's near-impossible inefficiency for a team that was expected to contend for the NFC East title.

The defense finally shows up some and the offense does nothing against Denver. They have to solve the quarterback position going forward.

A hugely disappointing defense has gotten incrementally better ... just in time to coincide with the offense's inability to score. What The Football?

How's the head coach? Washington should have, at the very least, been in contention to win the NFC East this year. The fact that it's basically at the bottom of the division (barely ahead of the Giants, by nature of a head-to-head win) is a really tough look for Ron Rivera. Yes, Washington has been without quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for most of this season, but as we saw elsewhere in Week 8, playing with a backup quarterback is no excuse for failure. The bigger issue is that the defense has underperformed, and that's something Rivera will have to address during Washington's bye week.