Washington Commanders report card: How we graded the Week 13 loss

The Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos faced off in Week 14 action at Northwest Stadium on Sunday Night Football, and it was a thriller.

The start of the game was a bit of a struggle for the Commanders. Denver kicked a field goal on their opening drive, then the teams exchanged punts before Marcus Mariota threw an interception that would lead to a second Broncos field goal. Washington responded, though, scoring a touchdown on their next drive to take a 7-6 lead. That was short-lived, though, as the Broncos scored on their next drive and took a 13-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Washington and Denver weren't done, though. Both teams scored a touchdown on their opening second-half drives. Washington would punt it away first, but the defense intercepted Bo Nix and put the offense back on the field. The Commanders kicked two more field goals after that to tie the game at 20 points apiece and send the game into overtime.

Overtime was much like regulation. The Broncos got the ball first and scored a touchdown, but the Commanders still had a possession to try and tie it up. They scored a touchdown, but failed on the two-point attempt and ultimately lost the game 27-26.

Overall, it was a solid performance by the Commanders, but let's take a look at how we graded each unit in the loss.

Offense

With Jayden Daniels nursing an elbow injury, Marcus Mariota got the start again for the Commanders. However, Terry McLaurin returned to the field and gave the offense a spark as they faced one of the NFL's top defenses. Mariota played well, throwing for 294 yards and a touchdown. His interception was unfortunate, but since the Broncos threw one too, it's a bit of a wash.

The offensive line was excellent, allowing just two sacks to a defense that has recorded 49 sacks this season. Zach Ertz played well, despite dropping a touchdown, and the offense finished with 419 total yards, including 134 yards on the ground. Considering the elite defense they faced, the offense played well.

Grade: B+

Defense

The Commanders' run defense was excellent on Sunday, holding the Broncos to just 87 rushing yards, although two of the touchdowns were on the ground. The pass defense was a tad shaky, but the Commanders did get an interception and landed a sack on Bo Nix, who has a notoriously dominant offensive line. They had Nix on more than one occasion, but couldn't wrap him up. The one big play came late in the game, when Bobby Wagner couldn't keep up with Evan Engram. It wasn't a stellar performance, but given how the defense has improved under Dan Quinn's play-calling, it was one of their better performances this season.

Grade: B-

Special Teams

Veteran long-snapper Tyler Ott was unable to play this week due to injury, so the Commanders brought in Zach Triner to take his place. Triner is a seven-year veteran, and his experience showed against the Broncos on Sunday. He didn't mess anything up, and Jake Moody was perfect in his Commanders' debut. Tress Way punted four times for 189 yards, and while the Commanders didn't have much action on returns, they didn't give up any big returns either.

Overall, it was a solid performance by the special teams unit.

Grade: B+

Coaching

The coaching staff did what it needed to do on Sunday. There were no overtly obvious mistakes, but there was also nothing that set the Commanders apart this week. It was a good performance against a team bound for the playoffs, and the fact that the Commanders took them to overtime speaks to how much this team wants to push forward. That's good coaching.

Grade: B

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders report card: Week 13 grades are in