4 things we learned from Washington’s hard-fought loss to Cowboys

1. Taylor Heinicke took a huge step backwards

The Taylor Heinicke hype train sure came to a screeching halt today, huh? It was always asking a lot for him to maintain a Pro Bowl-level of play, but we really thought he turned a corner as far as being consistent.

That consistency was nowhere to be found against Dallas. We’d even go as far as to say Heinicke was seeing ghosts out there. Late in the second quarter, he was 2-of-10 for 19 yards and an interception, equating to a 0.0 passer rating.

Every quarterback in the NFL should be allowed to have an occasional off game, but Heinicke, looking to assert himself as Washington’s quarterback for 2022 and beyond, can’t afford to turn in stinkers in high-leverage games.

For the contest, Heinicke finished 11-of-25 for 122 yards and a touchdown and interception apiece (55.2 rating). Did he face relentless pressure from the Cowboys’ front seven? No doubt, but that doesn’t change the fact that he missed a number of throws and was lucky to walk away with just one INT.

Heinicke also had a fumble that resulted in a Dallas touchdown, but that, as we noted earlier, was more Scherff’s fault than the QB’s.

Bottom line is Heinicke picked a bad time to have his worst performance of the year. Fans desperately want to buy into the idea that he can be the team’s quarterback of the future, but Sunday served as more evidence that he’s best suited as a game manager that relies on a dominate running game.

When the script goes awry, so does Heinicke.