4 things we learned in Commanders season-saving win over the Packers

1. Taylor Heinicke is good enough (for now)

Maybe Heincike was shaking off the rust after riding the bench all season. Or maybe he’s just a limited quarterback and the plethora of limitations that were revealed in Heinicke’s 15 starts last year were on full display in this game.

I tend to side with the latter argument. In the first half alone, Heinicke misfired on at least seven passes. Three of his first four pass attempts could’ve been intercepted and the Packers finally made him pay with a second-quarter pick-six.

Later in the first half, Heinicke showed zero awareness on a scramble and fumbled after getting tackled from behind by Rashan Gary. The Packers scooped up the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown to open up a 20-10 lead, but the score was negated by a tacky illegal touching on cornerback Eric Stokes.

The second half was a different story. Heinicke had the offense humming and his greatest contribution came on a touchdown to Terry McLaurin that he dropped in the bucket from 37 yards out. Jaire Alexander applied sticky coverage on the route, but Heinicke placed it perfectly and McLaurin made a great adjustment.

Much like the “Carson Wentz experience”, the Heinicke experience is a rollercoaster. There will be ups and downs, but you can’t teach resiliency and the Old Dominion product’s is second to none. No wonder the team loves playing for him.

Honorable mention: Terry McLaurin is a freak, but you already knew that.