3 defining plays that helped Washington knock off Panthers

2. Taylor Heinicke’s conversion on 4th and 3

Taylor Heinicke was all kinds of special on Sunday. Over his last two games, the 28-year-old quarterback is completing 78% of his passes, the best in the NFL during that stretch, for 462 yards and four TDs to zero INTs.

Simply put, Heinicke was throwing darts all over the field against the Panthers, which tells you he had something to prove against his former team. All three of his touchdowns were fit into tight windows. The only criticism you can have is that he still holds onto the ball for too long, but that’s a topic for another day.

While Heinicke was as poised as ever in the pocket (for the most part), his defining moment of the game  actually came when he had to improvise with his legs on a 4th and 3 with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter.

Per Next Gen Stats, Heinicke kept the play alive by scrambling 30.4 yards, which bought an extra 8.15 seconds of time, before he located John Bates just beyond the first down marker. As a result, Washington moved the chains instead of punting the ball back to Carolina, which would’ve had a chance to reclaim the lead.

At that point, Washington only had one timeout remaining, so the Panthers could’ve iced the game with a couple of first downs. Thanks to Heinicke, though, the drive continued and it culminated in a 36-yard field goal from Joey Slye to take a 24-21 advantage with just over four minutes left in regulation.