Washington DC Sports Today

Washington DC Sports News Continuously Updated

Taylor Heinicke effective in win

by

Taylor Heinicke completed 16 of his 22 attempts for 206 yards and three touchdowns leading Washington to a solid 27-21 win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Twice in the first half after the Panthers (5-6) scored touchdowns, Heinicke answered for Washington.

Trailing 7-0 late in the opening quarter, Heinicke led Washington (4-6) on a seven play-66 yard drive, concluding with a six-yard touchdown pass to Cam Sims, tying the game early in the second quarter.

Again trailing (14-7), Washington drove 71 yards in 12 plays when Heinicke connected with Terry McLaurin from 12 yards with only nine seconds remaining in the half, tying the score 14-14.

In the opening drive of the second half, Heinicke found DeAndre Carter from four yards out, finishing off a 10-play drive of 66 yards.

The touchdown pass provided Washington its first lead of the game (21-14) at 9:21 of the third quarter.

During the drive, Heinicke converted two big third-down plays.                   On 3rd & 5 at the 50, Heinicke found Cam Sims for 13 yards to the Carolina 37. He then found Carter on 3rd & Goal from the four for the go-ahead touchdown.

After the Panthers tied the score at 21-21 in the final quarter, Heinicke made perhaps his biggest plays of the day.

On 2nd & 8 from the WFT 27, Heinicke ran for eight yards and a first down sliding at the last possible second, taking a blow from Panthers’ safety Justin Burris, who was subsequently flagged an extra 15 yards.

Brian Burns sacked Heinicke for a loss of nine yards, setting up a 3rd & 21 back at the WFT 39.

Maintaining his poise, the former Old Dominion QB connected with Adam Humphries for 18 yards to the Carolina 43, setting up a 4th & 3.              Coach Ron Rivera decided to go for it, and number 4 delivered mostly with his feet, moving to his left, avoiding being sacked twice, and finding John Bates for six yards to the Panthers 37.

On 2nd & 12 at the Carolina 39, Heinicke again displayed his athleticism, scooting around left end for 14 yards and another Washington first down.  Heinicke came back down to earth on 3rd & 7 from the 22, when he led Terry McLaurin too far for what would have been a touchdown.  Yet, the drive ended in a 36-yard Joey Slye field goal for a 24-21 lead.

One might look at his stats and not be satisfied with only 206 passing yards.

Still, Heinicke finished the day with an always significant TD/ INT ratio of 3:0.

It was his efficiency that stood out Sunday, as Heinicke only had six incompletions in 22 attempts. Oh, he also averaged 9.4 yards per attempt, finishing the game with a 141.3 rating; both very impressive numbers.

Say what you want, but Sunday against Carolina on the road, Taylor Heinicke was productive, clever, shrewd, skillful, energetic, effective and quite capable.