The Washington Post - USA (2021-10-25)

D8 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, OCTOBER 25 , 2021

NFL WEEK 7

PHOTOS BY RICKY CARIOTI/THE WASHINGTON POST

Quarterback Taylor Heinicke takes a hit from Packers linebacker Rashan Gary d uring the third quarter of Green Bay’s 24-10 win Sunday. Washington failed to reach the end zone in all four of its red-zone trips.

JERRY BREWER

For Heinicke, that unpleasant
replay begot another unpleasant
replay on the next pla y, when
his fourth-down, fumble-and-
recover sneak was deemed short
of the goal line. When all the
mayhem and agonizing
inspection ended, so too did
Washington’s comeback hopes
during a 24-10 loss to Green Bay
on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
“I felt like I was in there both
times,” Heinicke lamented
afterward.
In a g ame of squandered
opportunities, in a season of
vanishing expectations, the
temporarily nameless team was
deceptive with its bursts of
competitiveness once again —
just competent enough to make
clear all the little details that
must be addressed as the 2021
campaign nears the halfway
point. Considering the Packers’
status as a championship
contender, this was the most
complete game Washington has
played so far. Still, the coaches
and players were left to wince at
their 2-5 record and
contemplate what it says about
them that a two-touchdown loss
actually qualifies as not so bad.
“We’re such a b etter football
team than what our record says,
but at the end of the day, you
can only go by what we’ve
done,” said defensive tackle
Jonathan Allen, whose two
sacks led a q uality defensive
effort. “So we’re what, 2-5? Then
that’s just who we are. Losing
teams find ways to lose games,
and winning teams find ways to
win games. And right now, we’re
finding ways to lose.”
You can make th e claim that,
over the course of 123 plays,
Washington was better than
Green Bay. Go punch by punch,
and it did more things right. But
the game doesn’t reward teams
incrementally like that. While
the Washington players can
consider it a step forward that
they focused and minimized the
big mistakes, they still failed in
big situations. They went on the
road and outgained the Packers
430-304, held possession for
almost six more minutes and
prevented Aaron Rodgers from
unleashing all of his Hall of
Fame talent. But it didn’t matter

BREWER FROM D1 opportunities, and we just
didn’t convert when we had a
chance.”
In the first seven games,
Washington turned preseason
expectations into trepidation
about its overall direction. Now,
it must salvage some
respectability. A 14-point loss
that featured some surprisingly
competitive moments only
shows how bad this start has
been. The bar is that low.
Nevertheless, you’re talking
about a team that had the same
record after seven games a year
ago. As a m atter of fact,
Washington fell all the way to
2 -7 in 2020, recovered and
finished strong. But that was
Rivera’s first season, and the
NFC East was so bad that
playoff motivation remained
despite the early futility. This
time, Dallas is off to a 5-1 start.
There will be no seven-win
division champion this time.
The pl ayers will have to improve
for improvement’s sake.
“I’m seeing the growth that
we’re looking for,” Rivera said. “I
loved the fight in these guys
today. There’s no quit. They
played hard, and that’s all you
can ask for as a coach, that the
guys are going to come out and
play hard and give themselves
an opportunity. I thought they
did. And now we, as a football
team, we just got to grow and
get be tter.”
Ten games remain. The
strength of schedule is a little
more manageable, and so are
some of the quarterbacks, even
though matchups against Tom
Brady, Dak Prescott (twice) and
possibly Russell Wilson loom.
Playing better against Green
Bay doesn’t soothe any
concerns, but splitting the final
10 games would alleviate some
of the anxiety about a
regression.
Can this team put such a
conclusion together? It would
be a r ise only to mediocrity, but
after how poorly this season
started, that would be quite a
jump.
You know, maybe we
shouldn’t talk prematurely
about making a l eap.
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For more by Jerry Brewer, visit

washingtonpost.com/brewer.

as much because Green Bay

converted 6 o f 12 third-down

tries and scored a touchdown

on a fourth-down pass to

Davante Adams on the opening

drive.

The Packers broke a 7-7 tie

with a touchdown drive just

before halftime. Then, to start

the third quarter, they

capitalized on a Heinicke

fumble and used the short field

to score and go ahead 21-7.

Although it was admirable that

Washington kept fighting back

— an encouraging sign that,

despite the early struggles,

Coach Ron Rivera still has

command of this team — the

game got away in those

moments. And for all the

opportunities Heinicke and the

offense created to get back in

the game, they managed just 10

points because they failed to

reach the end zone on all four

trips to the red zone.

New kicker Chris Blewitt

watched his first field goal

attempt get blocked. With 3:03

remaining in the second

quarter, Rivera declined

another field goal try and went

for it on fourth and three at the

Packers 27-yard line, but

Heinicke couldn’t complete the

pass. Then came the back-to-

back replays that went against

Washington in the third quarter.

Still, after all that

disappointment, the defense

forced a G reen Bay punt and

gave the offense good field

position. However, on the next

possession, it couldn’t score in

the red zone again.

On a third-down play,

Heinicke bought time and

found McLaurin open. The wide

receiver, who had seven

receptions for 122 yards and a

touchdown Sunday, mistimed

his dive, and the football wound

up hitting him in the helmet.

“That’s on me,” McLaurin

said, shaking his head.

And on fourth down, another

pass fell incomplete.

“It was disappointing,” Rivera

said of the game. “We had

Heinic ke, who threw for 268 yards and a touchdown with an interception, tries to escape the grasp of Packers defensive end Dean Lowry.

After a 2-5 start, Washington still has a ways to go before it can make the leap