10 quick thoughts from Week 11 as Washington spoils Cam Newton’s return to Carolina

Taylor Heinicke is a warrior: Heading into the bye, there was split opinions amongst fans in terms of whether Ron Rivera should make a quarterback change. At the time, Washington’s offense couldn’t score in the end zone. Fair or not, that falls on the quarterback, especially if he got the group down there.

Heinicke emerged from the bye with his starting job in tact, and he’s turned in back-to-back elite performances. All you can ask for a QB amid adversity is a response, and Heinicke has done that with room to spare.

For the game, Heinicke went 16-of-22 for 206 yards and three touchdowns to zero turnovers. Each of Heinicke’s TDs were things of beauty, but the rabbit he pulled out of his hat on this 4th and 3 is engrained in our memories.

If there was ever a QB controversy in Landover, Heinicke ended it on Sunday.

While you’re at it, extend DeAndre Carter, too!: Three straight games with a touchdown catch for DeAndre Carter. Imagine typing out that sentence back in Week 1? His third quarter score gives him four on the year including his kickoff return vs Atlanta, bringing him one behind McLaurin and Gibson for the team lead.

Beyond the touchdown, which gave Washington a 21-14 advantage, Carter came through on a 4th and 5 (18-yard catch and run) with just over a minute remaining in the first half. A few plays later, Heinicke connected with McLaurin from 12 yards out.

We’ve seen enough. Carter deserves a second year in Ashburn.

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Questionable second half decision-making: Rivera made a couple of puzzling calls within a few minutes of each other in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Rivera, that same stretch featured Newton finding McCaffrey for the game-tying TD.

First, Rivera opted to punt instead of attempting a 56-yard field goal with Joey Slye, one of the biggest-legged kickers in the league, to go up by two scores. As evidenced by McCaffrey’s TD, it clearly wouldn’t have hurt to trot Slye out there.

Then, Rivera challenged a potential forward pass from McCaffrey on a trick play to Newton. Upon further review, it was clearly a backwards pass. As a result Rivera burned Washington’s second timeout with over 10 minutes left in regulation. Luckily for Rivera, this move didn’t come back to haunt his squad.

Offensive line stand up!: To say Washington’s offensive line has been ravaged by injuries this season would be a gross understatement. At one point, they were down to their fourth-string center in Keith Ismael with Tyler Larsen and Wes Schweitzer nicked up. Sam Cosmi left with a hip injury, too!

Despite all that adversity and turnover, the OL continues to be consistent. Not perfect, but consistent, which is all you can ask for. That’s a product of great coaching, so we’ll go ahead and give John Matsko his flowers.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t give a quick shoutout to the defense, which allowed just 21 points, surrendered less than 300 total yards and limited Carolina to just 2-for-9 (22% on third down). It was a bend, don’t break approach for Washington’s D on Sunday, and they answered the bell when it mattered most.

What a flipping win.

If you celebrate, enjoy your Thanksgiving, Washington fans. You deserve it.