Washington Football Team: Five bold predictions vs. Buccaneers in Wild Card Round
1. Taylor Heinicke out-snaps Alex Smith in this game
I hate to be that guy, but I think it’s going to be very hard for Alex Smith to play the entire game against the Buccaneers if he suits up. As we saw against the Eagles last week, it was just extremely hard for him to move around on his injured right leg.
On a short week, it’s hard to imagine that changing.
It’s also important to note that there’s a reason that Smith struggled after a strong opening drive. As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports, Smith’s calf “locked up on him” early in the game and that impacted his ability to quarterback the team.
"Smith’s calf locked up on him after Washington jumped to a 10–0 lead on Philly last week, and the fear, of course, would be that happens again. That’s why Rivera conceded earlier this week that he and Turner could get creative with the quarterbacks on Saturday night and, again, my sense is Heinicke’s given those guys enough reason to feel O.K. about it."
Taylor Heinicke is a good athlete, so he could give the Bucs a different look, and that would be especially beneficial if they were playing the now-immobile, checkdown-prone Smith. It seems likely that Smith will start the game, but he will probably have to sit for some time barring a better-than-expected recovery.
For that reason, Heinicke may ultimately out-snap Smith. Both could have strong games, but keeping Smith’s reps limited may be the best interest of both the Washington team and Smith.
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Heinicke playing more snaps than Smith isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This is a rare instance in which a two-QB rotation may work, so it will be interesting to see if Washington ultimately takes that path or just rolls with Smith. Either way, Heinicke needs to be ready to relieve the veteran, if necessary.