After leading the Washington Football Team on a game-winning drive against the Giants Thursday night, Taylor Heinicke was asked a simple question.
NFL Network analyst Michael Irvin: "Do you believe with the job that you've done here tonight that you have earned the right to [be] starting at quarterback for the Washington Football Team the rest of the year?"
Heinicke, who took the place of Ryan Fitzpatrick last Sunday after the elder QB injured his hip against the Chargers, answered the question honestly.
"I do," Heinicke replied. "And I have confidence that I can do it, so if those guys in the locker room and the facility believe in me, that's all that matters. And I think they do. So let's try to keep this ball rolling."
In just the second start of his career (his first in the regular season for Washington), Heinicke, 28, completed 34 of 46 passes (73.9 completion percentage) for 336 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, the latter of which was nearly fatal for Washington.
Heinicke, working with a one-point lead with just over two minutes to play in regulation, threw a devastating interception to Giants corner James Bradberry that instantly put New York in field goal position on Washington's 20-yard line.
Only two and a half minutes prior, Heinicke had played the role of hero before it flipped on him, putting Washington on top 27-26 after finding tight end Ricky Seals-Jones with a laser in the back right corner of the end zone to cap off an unfathomable two-play, 75-yard drive that began with a 56-yard pass play to J.D. McKissic.
Fortunately for Heinicke, Washington's defense mustered the strength to hold the Giants to just four downs and a 35-yard chip shot by Graham Gano after Bradberry's seemingly fate-sealing pick, putting Washington down by two with two minutes left on the clock.
Just enough time for Heinicke to redeem himself.
Starting from the same spot where he threw the interception minutes earlier, Heinicke mounted a methodical 11-play attack that would land Washington in field goal range 45 yards downfield, summoning kicker Dustin Hopkins from the sideline.
Hopkins put Washington through an emotional pressure cooker, shanking his first attempt from 48 yards wide right, only to be bailed out by Dexter Lawrence of the Giants, who committed an unforgivable penalty by teetering offsides, granting Hopkins another try from five yards closer. He nailed it.
Washington wins in walk-off fashion and Heinicke is a hero once more.
Heinicke was asked, when he was taking online classes at Old Dominion University a year ago, trying to finish his degree as his NFL dreams fell out of frame, if he ever imagined himself leading a game-winning drive in prime time at this point in his life. Or playing against Tom Brady in the playoffs last winter, for that matter.
"No, I never thought it was gonna happen," Heinicke said. "But every night when I went to bed, I dreamt of it. Just knowing that, if I had the opportunity, in my mind I was successful in those dreams, I was successful when I was thinking about it. So when the time came, it wasn't new to me. Again, I'm just happy to be here, happy to play football again and happy to get a win."
Irvin made an observation that when Heinicke comes into the game — this week and last — it seems to light a spark on the sidelines, as if suddenly everyone rises to their feet at full attention, hanging on every play. Irvin asked Heinicke if he feels that energy from his teammates, and if they've ever told him they believe in him.
"Yeah, it means a lot. I can feel the energy," Heinicke said. "They all made it known that they're behind me, they believe in me, so, again, that gives me a lot of confidence and it lets me go out there and play pretty loose. It means a lot that those guys in the facility, those guys in the locker room believe in me and that's all I can ask for."
Asked how far this 1-1 Washington team can go this year, Heinicke replied, "Shoot. You know, you look at every position — we've got dudes at every single position. And I think the only thing that can beat us is ourselves. So I think we can go as far as we want to go."
With Fitzpatrick expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks, Washington's coaching staff is under no immediate pressure to make a decision on the quarterbacks now. But rest assured, if Heinicke continues to play this well in Fitzpatrick's stead, a decision will have to be made.
After all, we're already broaching the conversation after Heinicke's first week starting.
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