3 plays that encapsulated first half of Washington’s season
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Football Team will be back in action in Week 10 against the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That’s both a blessing and a curse. While it’ll be awesome to have Washington football back on Sundays, that leaves plenty of opportunity for more heartbreak, and there’s been ample of that over the first eight games.
Before we can fully move on to the second half of 2021, though, we simply have to run through some of the defining moments from the first half. After all, there were probably at least 20 worthy candidates to choose from.
It was difficult, but we managed to narrow it down to three, though the winner of the top spot might come as a surprise.
3 plays that defined the Washington Football Team’s first half
3. JD McKissic’s game-winning TD
Washington’s first half wasn’t ALL bad, so we wanted to include at least one positive play from the first eight contests.
The touchdown connection between Taylor Heinicke and Ricky Seals-Jones in Week 2 against the Giants was deeply considered, as it preluded Heinicke leading the offense down the field for Dustin Hopkins’ game-winner.
DeAndre Carter’s 101-yard kickoff return to open the second half of Week 4 vs Atlanta was also given consideration. However, JD McKissic’s game-winning score with 33 seconds left in that game takes the cake.
First and foremost, it was a game-winning TD in the final minute of regulation. Second, it was absolute perfect execution, albeit after several seconds of Heinicke being unable to locate an open receiver.
That’s what made the play so memorable. Heinicke spent at least 10 seconds going through his progressions, almost all of which were on the left side of the field, before he located a wide open JD Mckissic, who leaked out wide open near the line of scrimmage after contributing in pass protection.
The rest was all McKissic. After leaving a Falcons defender in his wake with a filthy stutter step, it was a race to the end zone between another handful of defenders, who had no chance with McKissic in a dead sprint.
What a moment. What a player. A deserved spot on this list.