Washington Football Team: Studs and duds from thrilling Week 2 win over Giants

Anything to talk about?

We would’ve appreciated if the Washington made it less stressful, but a win is a win, baby, and the Football Team needed that in the worst way.

This game had a plethora of twists in the fourth quarter alone. It even looked for a few seconds that Washington lost after Dustin Hopkins missed a 48-yard game-winning field goal attempt as time expired.

However, the Giants jumped offsides, giving Hopkins a chance to redeem himself, and the veteran kicker did just that, drilling a 43-yarder to send the G-Men back to East Rutherford with their tails between their legs.

Suffice it to say this was a very up and down performance from Washington. Despite the win, there are still a number of things to be concerned about moving forward — the secondary being chief among them.

For now, though, let’s highlight some of the game’s best and worst performers with a new edition of studs and duds.

Washington Football Team: Studs and duds from Thursday night

Stud: Terry McLaurin

What more is there to say about Terry McLaurin?

The star receiver celebrated his 26th birthday on Wednesday and he responded with a dominant performance against the Giants on Thursday night, hauling in a career-high 11 receptions for 107 yards and the WFT’s opening TD.

How do we know McLaurin is a man of the people? He cashed his over/under receptions (5.5) in the first half alone. If you took our advice and backed the 2019 second-round pick, you have a few extra dollars in your pocket. Let’s go!

In all seriousness, McLaurin dominated his personal battle against star cornerback James Bradberry, emerging as a go-to target for Heinicke in high-leverage situations, especially in the fourth quarter.

Then again, that shouldn’t surprise anyone given that he continues to climb the latter as far as star NFL wide receivers are concerned.

This was simply another day at the office for McLaurin, who proved yet again that he’ll perform at a high level regardless of who’s under center.

Dud: Landon Collins

This was a perfect opportunity for Landon Collins to prove he belongs in the category of elite safeties. Unfortunately, he wasn’t up to the task. We’ll refrain from doing a play-by-play recap, but Collins was seen over-pursuing on at least a handful of snaps. He also got burned on a big Daniel Jones running play.

Speaking of which, Collins didn’t even come close in his effort to chase Jones down. We know Jones is quietly one of the fastest QBs in the league (in terms of downhill sprints), but he kept a five-yard gap between Collins the whole way. It was an impressive look for Jones.

As for Collins, well, he’s at better moments in an NFL jersey.