Washington Football Team: Studs and duds from Week 4 win

Did the Washington Football Team deserve to win on Sunday?

That depends on what side of the ball you’re talking about. The offense did plenty to be on the winning side. Taylor Heinicke worked his magic. Terry McLaurin was unstoppable. Antonio Gibson was efficient despite playing on a bum shin. JD McKissic once again played a huge role down the stretch.

The defense, on the other hand, was a disaster. There were blown assignments all over the secondary. The pass rush generated just one sack and six QB hits against the immobile Matt Ryan. We counted four missed tackles on one of Cordarrelle Patterson’s three (!) touchdowns.

At the end of the day, a win is a win, and it couldn’t come at a better time. After all, Washington will play a Saints team that lost at home to the Giants on Sunday. An opportunity to get over .500 is the horizon.

For now, though, let’s do what we do every week regardless of the outcome and highlight the game’s best and worst performers.

Washington Football Team: Studs and duds from Week 4

Stud: Taylor Heinicke

There’s no denying that Taylor Heinicke made a number of risky throws that could’ve resulted in interceptions. However, his nerves of steel ultimately proved to be the biggest difference-maker against the Falcons.

On an afternoon where Heinicke received no help from his defense, he finished 22-of-33 for 290 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner to JD McKissic with 33 seconds left in regulation.

Heinicke was far from perfect in the game — he missed high on several throws — but anytime you lead a game-winning drive (and fourth quarter comeback) on the road in a must-win game, you qualify as a stud. Case closed.

https://twitter.com/WashingtonNFL/status/1444757841018036234

Dud: Kendall Fuller

At this rate, Kendall Fuller has earned himself a weekly spot on the studs and duds list. Unfortunately, this marks THREE weeks in a row Washington’s de facto No. 1 cornerback checked in as a dud.

Fuller has been a liability all season and his struggles continued on Sunday. While he was beat in coverage on multiple occasions, his lowlight of the game came on a 3rd and 13 when he surrendered a touchdown to Cordarrelle Patterson, a former return specialist-turned running back/wide receiver hybrid, in the fourth quarter.

Stud: DeAndre Carter

Is it fair to say that DeAndre Carter made the biggest play of the game? In the first action of the second half– after Atlanta reclaimed the lead with a Patterson touchdown with 10 seconds left in the second quarter — Carter took the kickoff 101 yards to the house to give Washington a 19-7 lead.

Keeping Carter on the roster was a must given Washington’s woes in the return game last season, and he’s been superb thus far. He also caught a big first down on the final drive of the game. A no-brainer stud from Week 4

Stud: Terry McLaurin

We are quickly running out of words to describe Terry McLaurin. If you don’t view the 26-year-old as an upper-echelon WR (top five, anybody?), then you simply aren’t watching enough Washington football. We wouldn’t exactly advocate for that right now, but he’s consistently dominating against double teams and bracket coverage.

Sunday was just another day at the office for McLaurin, who finished with six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

He’s a superstar. Plain and simple.

Dud: William Jackson III

Like his running mate Kendall Fuller, William Jackson has earned himself a weekly spot on the wrong side of this list. The $42 million cornerback has now committed a pass interference in all four games this season.

This long completion to Calvin Ridley in the second half was especially concerning, as Jackson grabbed (or mauled) the Falcons receiver and turned WAY too late to try and locate the ball. Despite all the contact, Ridley still came down with the catch and refs were quick to throw their flags.

We’d love to know what the deal is with Jackson, because he’s giving up big plays and penalties at an alarming rate through four weeks.

Dud: The refs

It wouldn’t be a Washington game without a little controversy from the fellas in black and white, right?

On a key fourth down, Chase Young got called for roughing the passer on a play where he barely made contact with Matt Ryan. Speaking of which, Ryan’s knee appeared to be down on the play, so Young should’ve been credited with a sack.

While Young could’ve made a better tackle attempt, it’s likely he restrained himself from making a big hit to avoid getting penalized. Young merely ran by the Falcons quarterback and threw a forearm to his shoulder pad, NOT his head.

Say hello to your latest worst call of the year contender.

Stud: Washington’s RBs

Antonio Gibson and JD McKissic were absolutely immense for Washington. When McLaurin wasn’t making circus catches in the Falcons’ secondary, it was Gibson and McKissic who helped the offense move the chains.

Gibson finished with 75 yards from scrimmage and 4.5 yards per carry to go with a touchdown. If only Washington’s defense could stop teams so Gibson would have a chance at getting a proper workload…

McKissic, meanwhile, proved that he’s one of the best 3rd down backs in the league. He contributed 59 yards on offense, including the game-winning 30-yard TD reception that he finished off with a pylon leap for the ages. He was also sublime in pass protection.

Dud: Dustin Hopkins

We hate to end on a negative, but there were very few positives stemming from Sunday’s win in Atlanta, and we simply couldn’t finish without mentioning Dustin Hopkins and his TWO missed extra points.

Wouldn’t you know it, Washington almost lost by TWO points before Heinicke went full beast mode by tossing two touchdowns in the final 3:52 of regulation. This marks two times in four games that Hopkins has been saved from a nightmare scenario. At this point, he’s a liability and we wouldn’t fault fans who are on a soapbox begging for a little competition at the kicker position.

That should just about do it, folks. There’s no sugarcoating this win. While it’s huge to get back to .500, Washington continues to prove — outside of a few consistent performers, of course — that they are a deeply flawed team.