Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke has been described as playing like every play will be his last. Heinicke did little to dispel that notion with some huge risks in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Heinicke’s 49-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Curtis Samuel in the third quarter had FedEx Field rocking. It was a terrible decision by Heinicke, but one in which he completely trusted Samuel, and Samuel rewarded that faith.
Heinicke put together another solid drive late in the third quarter, punctuated by a touchdown pass to Dax Milne to give the Commanders a 17-7 lead over Minnesota.
Unfortunately for Heinicke, things were vastly different for the remainder of the game.
After the Milne touchdown, the Vikings drove the field, but Washington’s defense held them to a field goal. The Commanders needed another solid, balanced drive ending with a score to put the game away.
How did they respond to the Minnesota score?
Heinicke, facing a 2nd-and-11 from the Washington 30-yard line, saw tight end Logan Thomas open across the middle of the field. To get the ball past Minnesota linebacker Eric Kendricks, Heinicke tried to aim the ball high to the 6-foot-6 Thomas. Heinicke went too high, and the ball sailed into the waiting arms of Minnesota safety Harrison Smith. Smith returned the ball 35 yards to the Washington 12-yard line, and two plays later, Kirk Cousins hit Dalvin Cook for a touchdown to tie the game.
The Commanders could not do anything on their next drive, punting the ball back to the Vikings, which essentially ended any chance of Washington winning the game.
Afterward, Heinicke described what happened on that critical interception.
“Yeah, so we have a pivot route on the left side, and it was my first read, and going back to the iPad, he’s wide open, so I just gotta stick to it,” Heinicke said.
“I felt like the nickel or safety down there was gonna kind of ricochet in and cover him, so I went to my second read and Logan [Thomas] was open, but the window was closing pretty quick. [Eric] Kendricks did a really good job kind of ricocheting back in that hole, so I wanna give him a high ball, just a little bit over Kendricks but just a little bit too high. A little unfortunate, but back to square one, I gotta just hit that pivot and move on.”
It’s good Heinicke sees what he can do to ensure that doesn’t happen again, but Heinicke’s gunslinger attitude can sometimes override taking the safe play. Sometimes that’s good; other times, not so much.
Things do not get any easier as the Commanders head to unbeaten Philadelphia next week for Monday Night Football. Washington will need a big-time performance from Heinicke if it hopes to pull off the upset.
