After the Baltimore Ravens beat the New York Giants, all Washington needed to do was win in Week 16 and they clinched the NFC East for the first time since 2015.
They could have used Week 17 as a de facto bye week and get ready for the playoffs. Instead, they laid an egg and limped to a 20-13 defeat to fall to 6-9 on the season and face a win or go home primetime game in Philadelphia next Sunday.
How did it happen? Dwayne Haskins, coming off a terrible off the field week, and the offense was ineffective and inept in the first half.
Here is how Washington's drives went in the first half: punt, Haskins fumble, punt, punt, interception, field goal, interception. Down 20-3 at the half and three turnovers by the starting quarterback.
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So why didn’t Ron Rivera yank Haskins right then for Taylor Heinicke?
“Remember, last week we came out at halftime and put ourselves in a position to score. That’s why I did what I did,” Rivera said about sticking with Haskins out of the half. “Well, we didn’t get anything going [in two second-half drives], so I decided to make the change. That’s why we made the change.”
So what led to Rivera pulling the plug?
“It was honestly probably the sum of the parts,” Rivera told the media after the game. “There were some opportunities that he had missed. To give us a chance, I wanted to see what Taylor could do.”
When asked if Rivera thought Haskins' off the field issues played a role in his poor performance, he said, "I don't think it impacted the game, as far as that's concerned."
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Now the focus turns to that crucial Week 17 game, if Alex Smith is still unable to play due to a calf strain, will it be Haskins or Heinicke at quarterback?
Rivera seemed enthusiastic speaking about Henickie’s performance on two 4th quarter drives.
“I thought it was gutsy,” Rivera said. “I thought he took advantage of what they were doing in terms of playing soft and allowing him to take the underneath and allowing him to hit certain throws. I thought his decision to take off and run was outstanding. I thought he had great vision. He went through his progressions and read the offense out and gave us a chance, which is all you can ask.”
As far as Haskins is concerned, when asked what he wants to see from him this week Rivera was curt, “Just improvement.”
So if you had to guess, it sounds like Rivera has seen enough of Haskins at quarterback in 2020.
Follow @BenKrimmel for the latest.
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