WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
FROM NEWS SERVICES
AND STAFF REPORTSThe Washington Football Team
is expected to sign quarterback
Taylor Heinicke to its practice
squad with the intent to make him
its “quarantine quarterback,” a
person with knowledge of the situ-
ation said. The signing is depend-
ent on Heinicke passing his six
days of pre-entry coronavirus test-
ing, which began Tuesday.
The need for a quarantine quar-
terback — a player who is involved
in a team’s offensive game-plan-
ning but either trains on his own
or remains distanced from the
other quarterbacks on the roster
— was reinforced Sunday, when
the Denver Broncos played a game
without any of their quarterbacks.
The thinking is simple: A team’s
quarterbacks spend so much time
together that if one tests positive
for the coronavirus, the whole
group could easily get infected
and leave the team without the
most important player on the
field.
By quarantining one of them,
the team always has a backup —
someone who knows the offense,
knows the team and could step in
at a moment’s notice.
Once signed, Heinicke, 27, will
bring the number back up to four
for Washington, along with starter
Alex Smith, backup Dwayne
Haskins and practice squad mem-
ber Steven Montez. Kyle Allen,
who was named the starter in
Week 5, is on injured reserve with
a season-ending ankle injury.
Though Heinicke’s game ex-
perience is minimal, he is well
versed in Washington’s system
and knows its play caller well.
After going undrafted out of Old
Dominion in 2015, he signed with
the Minnesota Vikings and spent
his first two NFL seasons with
Norv and Scott Turner as his offen-
sive coordinator and quarter-
backs coach. Heinicke reunited
with the Turners with Carolina for
a season (2018) with Ron Rivera as
head coach.
— Nicki Jhabvala
l BROWNS: Cleveland got
back its most valuable defensive
player and lost another vital one.
Myles Garrett is ready. Ronnie
Harrison won’t be for some time.
Cleveland’s defensive star was
activated from the covid-19 re-
serve list after missing two games
with the coronavirus. Garrett, who
was leading the NFL in sacks
when he got sick, has been cleared
to return to practice this week as
the Browns (8-3) get ready to play
at Tennessee.
Harrison was placed on injured
reserve after tests showed he suf-
fered a severe shoulder injury
Sunday against Jacksonville.
l PACKERS: Tavon Austin is
attempting to make a comeback
with Green Bay as the Packers look
to add depth to their receiving
unit.
The Packers announced they
signed Austin and released wide
receiver Darrius Shepherd.
Austin, the No. 8 pick in the
2013 draft to the St. Louis Rams,
caught 13 passes for 177 yards and
a touchdown last year in his sec-
ond season with the Cowboys.
l GIANTS: Linebacker Kyler
Fackrell was placed on injured
reserve with a calf injury and will
miss at least three games in the
closing stretch of the regular sea-
son.
Fackrell, who is tied for second
on the team in sacks with three,
was injured in New York’s 19-17
win over Cincinnati on Sunday.
l COLTS: Indianapolis punter
Rigoberto Sanchez said surgery to
remove a cancerous tumor went
well.
The four-year veteran, who
doubles as the Colts’ kickoff spe-
cialist, made the announcement
in a Twitter post, one day after he
revealed the diagnosis on social
media.
“Surgery went well,” he wrote.
“Overwhelmed by all the love and
support everyone sent my way.”
Sanchez first learned he had a
cancerous tumor late last week,
and after consulting with doctors
he decided to play in this past
Sunday’s 45-26 loss to Tennessee.
l FALCONS: Wide receiver Ol-
amide Zaccheaus was placed on
injured reserve with a toe injury.NFL NOTESHeinicke
to sign as
emergency
quarterback
Editor’s note
Following the postponement of the
Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh
Steelers game to Wednesday,
Mark Maske’s rankings and the
NFL scores and schedules will
appear in Thursday’s edition.The price of a playoff spot
could be high for the NFC East
team that wins the division. Non-
playoff teams get draft picks No. 1
to No. 18, with the team with the
worst record picking first overall.
Teams eliminated in the post-
season’s first round get picks
Nos. 19 to 24, again in ascending
order of the worst record.
Assuming the woeful NFC East
participant is just fodder for the
No. 5 seed (which, heading into
Week 13, would be the R ams),
then the NFC East winner would
almost certainly pick 19th in the
upcoming draft. The other three
teams in the division are almost
guaranteed picks in the top 10,
depending on the exact order of
finish.
[email protected]division, most likely with a 6-10
record. Then it is nearly a dead
heat between Philadelphia (25
percent) and New York (24 per-
cent), followed by Dallas (7 per-
cent).
No other division has this
much uncertainty. The Green Bay
Packers are minus-10,000 on the
money line to win the NFC North,
meaning a bettor would have to
wager $10,000 to win $100 if the
Packers claim the title. The same
is true for the New Orleans Saints
(NFC South) and Kansas City
Chiefs (AFC West).
The only other division with
the eventual winner in apparent
doubt is the NFC West, where the
Seahawks (minus-167) are fa-
vored over the Los Angeles Rams
(plus-175).ington (.555) have comparable
schedules. Dallas has the easiest
slate of remaining games (.389),
but there might not be enough
time for the Cowboys to claw
their way back into the playoff
picture.
With five games left for every
team in the division, nothing is
certain except that one of these
teams will be crowned the NFC
East winner, potentially with as
few as four victories, an admit-
tedly outlandish scenario that
would require at least two ties.
Based on 1,000 simulations of the
rest of the season that take into
account every team’s actual rec-
ord plus its expected record
based on points scored and al-
lowed thus far, Washington has a
44 percent chance to win thecharters at Pro Football Focus,
who subjectively grade the plays
of each player in the NFL. In
other words, Jones’s performance
is better than his results.
During McCoy’s three games of
2018, on the other hand, he was
rated the 32nd-best passer
among 36 qualified players at the
position by Pro Football Focus.
He was ranked 28th out of 31
passers for the week after his only
start of 2019.
Washington is also helped by
New York’s remaining schedule.
The Giants have the toughest
schedule of the group and the
fifth toughest overall, according
to the combined winning per-
centage of their remaining oppo-
nents (.574).
Philadelphia (.545) and Wash-BY NEIL GREENBERGThe NFC East is still the worst
division in football, yet one of its
teams will nonetheless earn a
postseason berth, with home-
field advantage for at least one
game. And with five weeks re-
maining, it looks like the Wash-
ington Football Team is the best
of the worst.
Washington shoved Dallas into
the division’s basement on
Thanksgiving by throttling the
Cowboys, 41-16, at AT&T Stadium.
The loss pushed the Cowboys’
odds to win the division from 5-2,
the second choice, to 7-1, the last.
Washington moved up from 9-2
to 2-1.
However, Washington doesn’t
have smooth sailing to a division
title. Washington has tough
games remaining against the un-
defeated Pittsburgh Steelers and
Seattle Seahawks, but an oppor-
tunity to add some wins against
the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina
Panthers and perhaps the San
Francisco 49ers, who will be
forced to play at State Farm
Stadium in Arizona after Santa
Clara County, home of the 49ers
and Levi’s Stadium, prohibited
NFL games under its new corona-
virus restrictions.
The Eagles lost to the Sea-
hawks on Monday night, their
third loss in a row, diminishing
their hopes for back-to-back divi-
sion titles. New York is playing
the most consistent football in
the division, with a three-game
winning streak, but starting
quarterback Daniel Jones went
out with a hamstring injury in the
second half of the team’s 19-17
victory over the Cincinnati Ben-
gals on Sunday.
If not for the injury to Jones,
the Giants would have been the
front-runner, but Colt McCoy is a
clear downgrade at the position.
McCoy has three starts over the
past five years, completing 65 of
102 passes for 653 yards, four
touchdowns and four intercep-
tions, giving him a passer rating
of 78.6. Jones’s results this year
weren’t much better (78.7 passer
rating), but he has been the 12th-
best passer of 2020 per the game
ANALYSIS
Washington has inside track for NFC East title
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
The Washington Football Team would be an extremely unlikely division winner, but the odds are in its favor with five games remaining.Pro football
real deal. He puts up 300-yard
passing games just about every
week. He is completing
66.9 percent of his passes and
has 23 touchdowns vs. seven
interceptions. He is the leading
candidate to be the rookie of the
year.
The easiest way to design a
winning team is to have a top
quarterback on his rookie
contract and build around him.
Herbert has three more years on
his rookie deal. The Chargers
have more than $26 million of
salary cap room next year.
There’s a lot to like here.
Denver Broncos: V ic Fangio
might have a hard time keeping
his job if the Broncos lose 10
games. They are 4-7 and have a
tough closing schedule that
includes Kansas City, Buffalo
and Las Vegas.
Fangio has done his job on
defense. The Broncos have a top-
10 unit even without star pass
rusher Von Miller, who should
be back next year. The offense is
another attractive part of this
job. Drew Lock is still trying to
prove he is a franchise
quarterback, but the offensive
line is solid and Denver has a
talented, young receiving corps.
The Broncos also have a lot of
salary cap flexibility.
Atlanta Falcons: T he first
team to make a move, the
Falcons have been studying
possibilities since firing coach
Dan Quinn and GM Thomas
Dimitroff. After an 0-5 start, the
Falcons have put together a 4-2
stretch, giving interim coach
Raheem Morris a chance to keep
the job.
What is attractive about the
Atlanta job is the foundation of
quarterback Matt Ryan and
wide receiver Julio Jones. The
defense ranks 27th and needs a
lot of work, but the Falcons have
some young talent on that side
of the ball and an owner in
Arthur Blank who is willing to
do what is necessary to win.
The only shaky part of this job
is the salary cap. The Falcons
are $20 million over the cap,
and there isn’t a lot of wiggle
room among the players under
long-term contracts.
Chicago Bears: C oach Matt
Nagy and GM Ryan Pace might
be able to survive, but a five-With five weeks
remaining in the
regular season,
NFL owners are
starting to make
changes.
The Detroit Lions fired coach
Matt Patricia and general
manager Bob Quinn on
Saturday, two days after an
embarrassing Thanksgiving loss
to the Houston Texans.
Following Jacksonville’s loss to
Cleveland on Sunday, the
Jaguars fired GM Dave Caldwell.
Coming into the season, there
was a thought around the NFL
that there could be several
coaching changes — in part
because of the fact that, after
most seasons with relatively
mild coaching turnover, there is
more the following year. After
last offseason produced just five
new coaches, there could be as
many as eight following the
conclusion of the 2020
campaign. There could be even
more turnover in the GM ranks.
In addition to Detroit, the
Houston Texans and Atlanta
Falcons have already fired their
coaches. The seats are hot in
Jacksonville, Denver, Chicago
and for the head coaches of the
New York Jets and Los Angeles
Chargers. That’s eight possible
openings — and each year, there
is usually a surprise.
We’ll stay away from guessing
potential surprise firings and
instead rank the quality of the
eight actual or possible
openings from the perspective
of potential coaching
candidates.
Los Angeles Chargers: T his
team’s inability to hold on to big
leads and close out tight games
has Anthony Lynn in a tough
spot. The Chargers are so much
better than their 3-8 record.
They have the league’s 12th-
ranked defense, with impact
players such as Joey Bosa,
Melvin Ingram III, Casey
Hayward Jr. and Chris Harris Jr.
Young star Derwin James will be
back next year. Most of their top
players are under contract.
What makes this job arguably
the best that could become
available is that the Chargers
have a really good young
quarterback.
Rookie Justin Herbert is the
NFL coaching changes
will open desirable jobs
John
Clayton
salary cap room. They also have
11 draft choices, including two in
the first round and two in the
second.
New York Jets: With
apologies to the Jaguars, this is
what building from scratch
looks like. The Jets have one
player on their 53-man roster
who has been to the Pro Bowl:
37-year-old running back Frank
Gore. They are weak at
cornerback and wide receiver.
Their attempted fixes on the
offensive line mostly haven’t
worked out, with the notable
exception of first-round left
tackle Mekhi Becton. They’ll
have to figure out what to do
with 2018 No. 3 overall pick Sam
Darnold, who has not proved
himself to be the team’s
franchise quarterback. It’s
unlikely they could get a big
trade haul for him.
There is some good news:
They are in prime position to
land Clemson star quarterback
Trevor Lawrence in the draft.
They have nine draft choices,
including two first-rounders,
plus $67 million in salary cap
room. So the resources to
rebuild are there — it just might
take a while.
[email protected]John Clayton has covered the NFL
for more than 40 years. During the
season, he writes a weekly column
for The Washington Post that
publishes online Tuesday mornings.Franchise cornerstone J.J. Watt
could be a cap casualty. Whoever
gets this job has to be prepared
to lose more than he wins for
the first couple of years.
Detroit Lions: O wnership
really needs to get this right
after having fired Jim Caldwell
after two 9-7 seasons in favor of
Patricia, who won 13 games over
his two-plus seasons.
Over the past few years, the
Lions have lost more talented
players than they’ve acquired,
and many around the league are
wondering whether a new
regime would try to move on
from quarterback Matthew
Stafford. Wide receivers Kenny
Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr.
are free agents. The defense is
among the worst in football.
There is a lot of work to be done
here.
Jacksonville Jaguars: T here
aren’t many positive boxes to
check with the Jaguars. They
have had nine losing seasons
over the past 10 years. What has
happened to them since playing
in the AFC championship game
after the 2017 season has been
terrible, including a total
deterioration of what had been
the league’s best defense.
Basically, the Jaguars are
going to have to build from
scratch. They’ll probably draft a
quarterback rather than stay
with Gardner Minshew II. The
good news is that the Jaguars
have more than $60 million ofgame losing streak that has
dropped the Bears to 5-6 has
made things tense.
There is a lot to like about the
Bears’ talented defense, which
isn’t at risk of losing starters to
free agency. But, of course, there
is the concern at quarterback.
The trade up to draft Mitchell
Trubisky clearly hasn’t worked.
The trade for Nick Foles didn’t
do the trick, either. So a new
regime’s top task would be
figuring out the quarterback
situation and fixing one of the
league’s worst offenses.
Houston Texans: Deshaun
Watson is a quarterback any
coach and general manager
would love to have. He is
arguably one of the six best
signal callers in the game.
Unfortunately, the mistakes
made by Bill O’Brien in
constructing Houston’s roster
could take a couple of years to
fix.
The Texans are $20 million
over the salary cap because
O’Brien spent $44 million per
year on four wide receivers
while also having a $22 million
left tackle, an $11 million center
and a $13 million running back.
Even worse, he traded away a lot
of draft choices. The Texans
don’t have a first- or second-
round pick next year.
With Watson making
$39 million per year, there isn’t
much room to add free agents.
The defense needs to be rebuilt.WADE PAYNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
If Bears Coach Matt Nagy is fired after this season, his successor would inherit a very talented defense.