By The Numbers: Washington Football Team pulls off a stunner

What a rollercoaster. If you didn’t have high blood pressure at the beginning of the game, you sure did by the end. The Washington Football Team defeated the Giants 30-29 to get their first win of the season, after Dustin Hopkins hit a 43-yard field goal with no time left. So how did we get here?

Well for one, Washington’s defense didn’t come out to play and let Daniel Jones live up to his Danny Dimes nickname.

But luck and for Taylor Heinicke, destiny was definitely on their side tonight. The Giants left two touchdowns on the field, with a 58-yard touchdown run from Daniel Jones called back for holding, and a wide-open drop by Darius Slayton in the end zone on a blown coverage.

But wait, there’s more in this crazy Washington Football Team win.

And I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet. With Washington holding a 27-26 lead with 2:22 left in the game, Heinicke threw an untimely interception at the Football Team’s 25-yard line, his first real mistake of the game. However, this time, Washington’s defense was able to get a stop and hold the Giants to a field goal.

With exactly two minutes left in the game, Heinicke had the chance to atone his mistakes and see his legend grow among Washington fans, and he did just that, with a little help from the Giants’ special teams. After driving the offense down to the Giants 30-yard line, Dustin Hopkins came in to attempt a 48-yard game-winning kick. He missed and for a moment, it seemed like Heincke’s breakout performance would be all for naught. But Dexter Lawrence had gone offsides, giving Washington another chance for the win. This time, Hopkins was able to knock in the 43-yarder and the Football Team exited with the walkout victory.

The highs from Washington’s first win of the season

The legend of Taylor Heinicke reached another level after Thursday’s game. Did he play perfectly? Of course not, the team went three-and-out on its first two drives and gained a total of -3 yards (that’s not a typo). He did start off the game throwing the ball really high to his receivers, but as he settled down, his passes got crisper, with many of his throws placed where only his receivers could get them. After throwing an interception late in the game, when the team should have been running out the clock (had to be said), you could see his frustration as he threw his helmet after leaving the field. But with all good stories, he got a chance for redemption and led Washington to victory, while picking up his first career win as a starting quarterback.

15-15, 210, 2: Heinicke led Washington on three touchdown drives in the game, which is impressive in itself since the team only had one touchdown last week. But the crazy part is on those three drives, Heinicke went 15-for-15 for 210 yards and threw two touchdown passes. How is that for a mic drop.

642: Over his last two starts (Giants and the Wild Card game against the Bucs), Heinicke has completed 66.6% of his passes for 642 yards.

4: After receiving only 4 targets in the entire Chargers game, Terry McLaurin had 4 targets and 4 catches for 43 yards and a touchdown on Washington’s first scoring drive. You have to get the ball in McLaurin’s hands if you want to win the ballgame. McLaurin finished the game with 11 receptions for 107 yards and was understandably Heinicke’s favorite target.

7: When Washington picked up Adam Humphries, many fans didn’t think much of it, given that he hasn’t had a huge statistical season since 2018. However, his veteran presence has proved beneficial while the Football Team waits for Curtis Samuel to return from injury. Humphries finished the game with the second-most receptions on the team (7) for 44 yards, including a clutch seven-yard reception on 3rd and 5, with 28 seconds left in the game.

56: We had a JD McKissic sighting. After only seeing one target and one carry last week, McKissic broke out with five receptions for 83 yards, including a 56-yard throw and catch where Heinicke found him on a wheel route down the sideline. One play later, Washington took a 27-26 lead with 4:33 left to go.

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100: Washington went 2-for-2 on 4th down against the Giants after going 1-for-1 against the Chargers last week for a 100% success rate. Obviously, that won’t last the entire season but it is a fun anecdote to point out for now. Heinicke picked up two yards on a 4th and 1 quarterback sneak on Washington’s first touchdown drive. On the last drive of the game, J.D. McKissic picked up four crucial yards on a 4th and 1 to keep the drive alive.

3: For all the hate that Dustin Hopkins gets, he did win Washington the game, although it took a lucky break for him to get a redo. Hopkins hit from 49, 37, and 43 yards in the win against the Giants. Not too shabby.

The lows from Washington’s first win

154: Washington has given up 154 yards over the last two weeks on the opponent’s first drive, both leading to touchdowns.

10/10, 85: Last week, Justin Herbert hit four different receivers on his first drive and finished 6-for-6 for 40 yards. On Thursday, Daniel Jones went 4-for-4 for 45 yards and ran in a touchdown. Overall, both QBs combined to go 10-for-10 for 85 yards. That’s not what an elite defense gives up.

10.6:  You would think a game featuring both Saquon Barkley and Antonio Gibson would end with one of them ending as the leading rusher. That wasn’t the case, as Daniel Jones finished with 9 carries for 94, a 10.4-yard average while adding a rushing touchdown. It was like deja-vu. Jones ran through the Washington defense with ease, leaving Landon Collins in the dust, just as he had done last year. This time it was a 46-yard run (after the holding penalty), last year it was a 49-yarder.

1-4: Daniel Jones has had Washington’s number for the last two years, with Washington going 1-4 against him over the last 2+ years, picking up their first win on Thursday. In the five games against Washington, Jones has a 9:2 TD to INT ratio, has averaged a 68% completion percentage and 7.26 yards-per-carry, while losing no fumbles. In his 24 other career games, Jones has a 2.8:2 TD to INT ratio and 18 lost fumbles.

35: Former Washington kicker Graham Gano was automatic, going 5-for-5 on field goals for the Giants, including nailing a 55-yarder. Gano has now hit 35 consecutive field goals. Cue the Drake lyric, “You’re gonna miss me a little when I’m gone.”

80: Washington had nine penalties for 80 yards, after having eight penalties for 57 yards last week against the Chargers. Last year, the team the team averaged 42.5 penalty yards per game, so something needs to change this season.

There were many undisciplined penalties on both sides of the ball for Washington. Sam Cosmi had two costly penalties, an unnecessary roughness that turned a 2nd and 2 into a 1st and 22 and a holding penalty that turned a 3rd and 7 to a 3rd and 17. Both drives ended with punts. On defense, four of Washington’s penalties gave the Giants automatic first downs, including Chase Young’s roughing the passer, pass interference on William Jackson III and Kendall Fuller, and defensive holding on Landon Collins.

5: A big play is defined as a pass that goes for over 25 yards or a run that goes for over 10 yards. Against the Giants, Washington’s defense gave up five big plays including three runs by Daniel Jones, a 41-yard run by Saquon Barkley, and a 33-yard touchdown reception by Darius Slayton. Washington has had an issue giving up big chunks of yards over the past few years and will need to get that under wraps if it wants to stand a chance against the top-tier teams in the league.

It wasn’t pretty, but Washington was able to come away with its first win of the season while defeating a division foe. And maybe, just maybe they were able to figure out the answer at quarterback. Only time will tell.