Burgundy & Gold Reaction: The Day After Dallas

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December 14, 2021

by David Earl

Taylor Heinicke Creating Mixed Feelings

I think there was no scenario in which Heinicke had ever garnered “Franchise quarterback” views from this fan base, but he is viewed by many simply as a good player with both necessary intangibles to play the position with obvious flaws, especially in mechanics. During the 4 previous games, we saw a quarterback that didn’t shrink in pressure situations as he ran Turner’s offense with good precision. Heinicke has shown a keen ability to diagnose presnap reads quickly and demonstrates excellent pocket awareness. His accuracy during this win streak was near 70% and he had a passer rating 3 of the 4 weeks better than 100.  Heinicke executed multiple late-game drives which iced those games one way or another. He’s shown an ability to face pressure situations with a calm presence which inspires confidence in the players around him. Don’t forget the quality of the wins too – he beat the defending Super Bowl champs, a stingy Carolina defense in Cam’s return game, a prime time situation against Russell Wilson we all know has never faired well, and then a good playoff level Raiders team. We cannot allow this recent setback to completely redefine Taylor Heinicke either, as he’s still the quarterback most of us already thought he was.

Taylor Heinicke has always lacked the required arm strength to make all the throws, especially deep downfield, and this game showed just that too. On a 3rd down with 5 yards to go, he rolled to his right directing Terry McLaurin downfield. Instead of taking a sure-fire first down to Samuels underneath, he tried to force a big play and he underthrew an open McLaurin. In the previous 4 games, Heinicke usually took the underneath play, but against Dallas he pressed to make a big play resulting in the aforementioned poor throw. While we admire his gamer mentality for sure, his lack of arm strength just doesn’t match his occasional gunslinger tendencies, and that can sometimes mean mixed results. After this poor decision and throw to McLaurin that ultimately saw his wide receiver get hurt, he dropped a beautiful ball to Cam Sims later for a 46 yard TD pass. As this only covers a small aspect of his game, the narrative on Taylor shouldn’t have  changed after this game. He is a quarterback that makes for a perfect bridge to the team’s future and it is reasonable to see him as worthy to play for the starting role in the 2022 season while the team still works to upgrade through the draft. Allow him the opportunity to earn and keep the job until the as of yet undrafted young guy is ready to take over.

Offensive Line a Turnstile

Heinicke was under extreme duress throughout the entire game, as the offensive line not only failed to open running lanes but also never gave him a clean pocket. The struggles of the interior were very apparent, as Dallas took full advantage of the decimated conditions of our center position. That doesn’t excuse all-pro guard Scherff’s worst game of this season (maybe in his career) as Dallas’ front seven kept punching away with no counter from Washington’s offensive line whatsoever. Part of this blame surely falls on Scott Turner too, as he seemed overmatched by Dan Quinn all game long. Turner didn’t seem to adapt his game plan to the situation. Where was his creativity in his play designs that we watched the previous 4 weeks? This game was a scenario in which the defense kept Washington in the game for the most part, with the offense being unable to get anything going in the first half especially. Attacking Heinicke and Scott Turner here is just the easy thing to do, it was a bad game, in particular the first half, but it just hurts more being against the hated rival Dallas Cowboys. Needless to say, Ron and his staff have some things to figure out heading into Philadelphia this week and the Cowboys the following week, as the playoffs essentially ride on what happens these next 2 weeks.

Gibson’s Ball Security Devastating Again!

This is simple: HOLD ONTO THE DAMN BALL!!! Antonio Gibson has been this team’s bell cow at running back while only averaging approximately 3.8 yards per carry this season. His hands in the passing game are above average and while his quickness and elusiveness don’t seem to be there like his rookie season he has still shown flashes from time to time. It’s fair to wonder if his injured shin is still holding him back. Gibson will continue to be counted on down the stretch unless he doesn’t figure out his ball security issues. He currently leads all NFL running backs with 6 lost fumbles and all seem to come at crucial moments of the games. Before we decide to give up on Gibson, just remember the fumbling issues of Tiki Barber and Adrian Peterson in their young careers before getting their ball-handling worked out. Gibson is most likely going to continue being who he is for now but this offseason, if he wants to be that Christian McCaffery guy for Ron Rivera, he needs to get a handle on his fumbling issues.

A Bit of an Overreaction

I truly get this reaction after what we have all experienced with the organization for far too long but let’s not ignore what recent history has shown. From the 19 play drive against Tampa that iced the game, responding to a momentum-shifting late-game drive against Carolina adding crucial game-deciding points, and to fend off a late-game surge by the Raiders hitting a 48 yard game-winning field of the leg of our 4th kicker of the season. Even against Dallas, after the pick 6 by Cole Holcomb in the 4th quarter, the team was a dropped pass by Deandre Carter away from being in a position to push this game into overtime. No, this is not about a “moral victory” but it is a testament to this team’s heart and the no-quit mentality they’ve adopted while under Ron Rivera. They have erased most of the defeatist mentality we’ve all grown so accustomed to and replaced it with more hope than ever before. I know there’s still have a long way to go with many holes to fill, but one hurdle we’ve finally gotten over, in my opinion, is that this team will no longer roll over regardless of how dire the situation seems. One loss doesn’t changed this new narrative as of late and we as fans have got to stop with this defeatist mindset that has been ingrained into us over these couple of brutal decades and start seeing the winds of change going on today.