Washington QB Taylor Heinicke: 'Guys Are Feeling' Need to Fix Scoring Problem

In the past three weeks, the Washington Football Team offense has entered the opponent's red zone nine times. They've scored touchdowns ... twice.

So the four-down debacles in Week 7's 24-10 loss at the Green Bay Packers don't represent a new problem for the WFT offense, just a new way to go about the same issue.

"You got to be better,'' said QB Taylor Heinicke. "Obviously, the interception can't happen and that's been what, two or three weeks now that's happened ... We've got to punch it in when we get down there."

Heinicke brings up a good point. Along with scoring just two red-zone touchdowns in the past three weeks, he's also thrown two red-zone interceptions. To make matters worse, he also threw an interception from inside his own 20-yard line in the same stretch.

This isn't just about what's been going wrong; it's about how the team gets better - something the quarterback discussed as well.

In Week 7 we saw more running out of Heinicke than we have in a long time. In fact, the end result was the second-most rushing yards in a single game from a Washington quarterback in franchise history.

But Heinicke took criticism for diving down near the goal line on a critical third-down play instead of risking contact and getting into the end zone.

"(Packers defenders) were king of closing in on me," Heinicke said about his decision to dive instead of staying upright. "Going back and looking at film, I just ran. I could have run it in, but in the heat of the moment, I thought they were closing in quicker and I wanted to protect myself and get in the end zone at the same time ... I think throughout the last two, three weeks, I've started to find that line where I can be aggressive, but also stay healthy."

Every week is a chance to get better. This team was supposed to win with suffocating defense and an offense that could produce enough points to put opponents in uncomfortable situations.

The defense has gotten better over the same three-week stretch, but the offense's learning curve is proving to be steeper. ... Something which can be attributed to the inexperience of the quarterback, and the lack of consistency at skill positions due to injury.

Either way, nobody can use any of these to excuse away the losing, and Heinicke knows how critical it is he finds a way to get the offense going against the Denver Broncos in Week 8.

"Guys are feeling it," Heinicke said about the need to win this weekend. "(Against the Packers) We were moving the ball on them. I felt we played a lot better than 10 points ... but when we get down in the red zone, you have to score touchdowns. That's how you win games. That's going to be a big point of emphasis this week."

It be argued that Heinicke has started to grow, even as the amount of support around him in the fanbase has reduced.

Another week, another chance to improve. And if they don't get the job done, they'll get a full week off to read and hear about it, before hosting the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10.

No pressure.