4 Commanders who blew it in disappointing tie vs NY Giants

3. Taylor Heinicke, QB

Heinicke obviously deserves massive credit for engineering the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. Without some clutch throws on that drive, odds are Washington loses as they would’ve had to punt the ball with the Giants needing one or two first downs to milk the rest of the clock.

Before that, though, Heinicke was having a dreadful game. He missed high on at least four throws, which is a tell-tale sign of poor footwork, and committed a costly fumble with the score nodded at 13-13 in the third quarter. Five plays later, the Giants grabbed the lead on a Isaiah Hodgins touchdown pass from Daniel Jones.

Heinicke’s final stats (27-of-41 for 275 yards and two TDs) look good on paper, but everyone watching know it was a rough day at the office.

His first touchdown was thrown behind Terry McLaurin, who made a one-handed grab and dodged a tackler to get into the end zone, and Jahan Dotson picked up some serious YAC and executed a filthy spin move to get in for six.

And who could forget Heinicke missing a WIDE open Logan Thomas? It was a busted coverage by New York’s secondary, and Thomas would’ve jogged into the end zone to give Washington a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. That miss turned out to be a huge deal, as the offense settled for a Joey Slye field goal.

A touchdown there could’ve made all the difference in the game.