Washington Football Team's Biggest Weakness?

WFT's second season without a name is hoping to be better than the first, but what will it have to overcome to repeat as NFC East champs?

Washington Football Team's finish to 2020 was so good that it made people forget how it all started. In 2021, head coach Ron Rivera will try to build on the team's late successes, and not regress into the bad habits that led to a 1-5 start.

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A four-game winning streak that was sparked by then-quarterback Alex Smith's unthinkable return from a leg injury was good enough to rally WFT to the NFC East championship.

There are lots of reasons to think that momentum from a year ago is sustainable, but are there areas of concern that Washington needs to consider to have a successful season in 2021? 

Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr points to the quarterback position: 

Washington Football Team

QUARTERBACK: I’d had an argument prepared to list Washington’s safeties and off-ball linebackers as its biggest weakness, with the thought that Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t going to be asked to do a ton this year outside of playing smart, ball-control football (then again, does any Ryan Fitzpatrick start occur at the same low-BPM heart rate for 60 minutes?) But in reality, that argument only solidified my belief in how good this defense is going to be in 2021. Jon Bostic has improved in coverage every season he’s been in the NFL. Cole Holcomb got better last year as well despite the truncated season. A team could have survived with them at linebacker and been okay. Now, with the addition of Jamin Davis, that group should be a strength. The quarterback room may be comparatively weak but Ron Rivera doesn’t need a quarterback-forward offense. He needs on-time releases and fewer mistakes. Fitzpatrick can do that (sometimes).

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The addition of Fitzpatrick might give the team short-term stability, but the intrigue will be surrounding who claims the backup role.

Taylor Heinicke went back to college to finish his degree when he got the call to join Washington late in the season. From there, he went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady in a playoff appearance with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that catapulted him to a fan favorite in Washington.

He also separated his shoulder late in that game, which only added to his reputation of being injury-prone. Heinicke has made two NFL starts and been injured in both.

Pushing him for the backup role will be Kyle Allen, who came over from Carolina with Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner.

If Washington wants to repeat as NFC East champions, and more, it will need better-than-average quarterback play from Fitzpatrick, and maybe even an appearance by his legendary "Fitzmagic." However, if the equally available "Fitztragic" shows up, it'll be a long season for WFT fans. 

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