Washington Football Team: Three standouts from season-ending loss to Bucs

1. QB Taylor Heinicke

There’s no doubt about who the No. 1 standout from this game was Taylor Heinicke. Just over a month ago, he was taking classes at Old Dominion and wasn’t even on an NFL roster. But thanks to Washington’s desire to keep a quarantine quarterback around, Heinicke joined the team and got to start when it mattered most.

Heinicke may not have deliver a win, but he certainly delivered the performance of a lifetime.

Heinicke came out of the gate hot for Washington and never looked back. On the first drive, he announced his presence with a beautiful, downfield strike to Cam Sims that the receiver dropped, but from there, Heinicke was on fire.

Rarely in this contest did Heinick make a bad throw. He was accurate, he looked to make plays downfield, and his mobility proved to be a huge plus for Washington. He was able to scramble away from some of the pesky Tampa Bay blitzes and ultimately kept Washington in the game until their final offensive drive.

Two plays stand out from Heinicke’s day. The first is the one that will make every highlight reel of the 2021 playoffs. On a third-and-five, Heinicke was under a lot of heat in the pocket but managed to escape while it collapsed. At that moment, he saw a lane to the corner of the end-zone and booked it for the pylon. He dove for it and managed to get in to cut the Bucs lead to 18-16.

Here’s a look at the play, via the NFL’s official Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1348111005725847554

That demonstrated Heinicke’s incredible athletic ability and how much it helped Washington over the now-immobile Alex Smith. Heinicke’s accuracy and ability to read the field were a huge plus, too, and that was demonstrated on this touchdown strike to Steven Sims (via the NFL’s Twitter account).

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1348120859035095041

Heinicke finished the day 26-of-44 for 306 yards with one touchdown and an interception that came off a deflection. He also added 46 yards and a TD on the ground, and had Washington positioned for a late, game-tying drive. It didn’t end up coming to fruition, but Heinicke’s performance gave them a chance for that to happen.

Heinicke has worked himself into the quarterback conversation for Washington, and it will be interesting to see how he will play into the QB room heading into next year. So much is unsettled at the position for Washington.

At the very least though, Heinicke and Kyle Allen will give the team a couple of intriguing, young options to fight for starter and backup roles.