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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2021. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

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JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST

BY NICKI JHABVALA

charlotte — Ron Rivera didn’t want it to be about

him, and Cam Newton said he didn’t want it to be

about him, either — emphasis on said — but their

reunion here Sunday was always going to be about

them and the years they spent together as coach and

quarterback of the Carolina Panthers.

At least the start of it was. It wasn’t long before

reunion week became another memorable outing for

Taylor Heinicke.

A week after he bested Tom Brady and the

reigning Super Bowl champions, Heinicke led the

Washington Football Team — and his coach and

many assistants and teammates making their return

— to a gutsy 27-21 win at Carolina, complete with his

customary theatrics and late-game tricks. In a game

that could have all but ended its hope of landing a

playoff berth, Washington instead improved to 4-6

SEE WASHINGTON ON D9

Heinicke and Rivera deny

Newton his big moment

WASHINGTON 27,

PANTHERS 21: Daron Payne,

left, and Jonathan Allen revel in

their imminent win after Payne

and James Smith-Williams

sacked the Panthers’

Cam Newton on fourth down to

end Carolina’s final possession

Sunday in Charlotte. The stop

secured Washington’s second

straight victory and gave

Ron Rivera and many of his

players and fellow coaches

a victory against their old team.

Week 11 takeaways

Taylor Heinicke plays spoiler, and

the defense is figuring it out. D10

Seahawks at Washington

Nov. 29, 8:15 p.m., ESPN, WJLA-7

charlotte — Don’t do it. Don’t

click on the NFL standings, look at

the Washington Football Team’s

position therein — still not within a

football field of first place, still not

within a game of .500 — and start to

think about whether this group

could play meaningful games in

January. It has season-ending

injuries to its presumed starting quarterback and

its potentially star defensive end. Two solid games

don’t erase so much dreck...

Oh, what the heck?

There’s a path. It’s not probable. It may not even

be healthy to acknowledge it. But it exists. It exists

because Washington beat the Carolina Panthers,

27-21, on Sunday at an emotionally charged Bank

of America Stadium.

This is absurd and ridiculous to even bring up.

SEE SVRLUGA ON D8

After two straight victories,

a plausible playo≠ path

Barry

Svrluga

which came after a fourth-

quarter comeback against the

Heat on Saturday night, that

word that can be difficult to

describe had its moment. When

the Wizards finished the game

by outscoring Miami 19-6, three

players who aren’t the franchise

cornerstone engineered the run.

That’s because the Wizards have

created a space for opportunity.

Here, castaways are given

multiyear contracts. Here, the

guys who appear in the second

paragraph of a story about a

massive trade can receive chants

of “M-V-P!” And most

importantly: Here, there’s plenty

of room in the galaxy for more

than one star.

While Miami has a

foundation that attracts hard-

nosed worker bees or shapes

players into that mold,

SEE BUCKNER ON D3

Culture can be an
abstract idea, and
for the
Washington
Wizards it has
often been even
more nebulous.
Culture, that
catchall word
tossed around in sports, has
sounded more like something
green and squirmy that grows in
a Petri dish t han a guiding
principle to define the franchise.
Contrast that with the Miami
Heat. Whenever it plays on
national television, broadcasters
can’t make it to the third quarter
without mentioning the Heat’s
culture, a concept that only the
people in Miami can truly grasp
and explain.
But there’s something genuine
and sustainable growing in
Washington. It looks like, feels
like the Wizards (11-5) just might
have a culture now.
During their most recent win,

Wizards are building a culture

in which role players can thrive

Candace
Buckner

Hornets at Wizards

Today, 7 p.m., NBCSW

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST

Maryland’s defense forced 15 Baylor turnovers, which turned into

17 points for the Terps on a day when they shot just 40 percent.

TENNIS

The IOC says President

Thomas Bach participated

in a video call with

China’s Peng Shuai. D2

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

St. John’s caps a perfect

season by cruising past

Good Counsel for its first

WCAC title since 2017. D4

PRO FOOTBALL

In Week 11, the Chiefs

take down the Cowboys,

and the Bills, Packers

and Titans tumble. D5-7

Canadiens at Capitals

Wednesday, 7 p.m., NBCSW Plus

BY SAMANTHA PELL

seattle — The fatigued Wash-

ington Capitals were a step slow

and had late lineup absences that

were too big to overcome as they

ran out of gas in a 5-2 loss to the

Seattle Kraken on Sunday night

at Climate Pledge Arena.

Sunday’s game was the Capi-

tals’ seventh in 11 days, and it was

the second of a back-to-back set

(following Saturday’s victory at

San Jose) at the end of a four-

game West Coast road trip. The

Kraken, which has struggled in its

debut season, found its offensive

rhythm and sent the Capitals

limping back to Washington.

Washington (11-3-5) went 2-1-1

during a road trip that featured

two sets of back-to-backs. Sun-

day’s loss was the Capitals’ first in

regulation since a 2-1 defeat to

Philadelphia on Nov. 6.

On top of the tough schedule,

Washington had two late absenc-

es from its lineup Sunday. For-

wards T. J. Oshie and Conor

Sheary did not play because of

injuries. Oshie, a Seattle-area na-

tive, was ruled out before warm -

ups with a lower-body injury.

Sheary, who is day-to-day with an

upper-body injury, was not ruled

out until after taking part in

warmups.

With no more healthy for-

wards available, the Capitals had

no choice but to use a lineup of 11

forwards and seven defensemen

(instead of the standard 12 and

six). It was the first time they had

done so this season.

The Kraken (5-12-1) jumped

t o a three-goal lead before

SEE CAPITALS ON D3

Caps hit

Seattle,

then hit

the wall

KRAKEN 5,

CAPITALS 2

Arduous road trip ends

with a loss to the Kraken

Many happy returns

BY KAREEM COPELAND

Ashley Owusu lobbed the in-

bounds pass to Angel Reese and

sprinted off the baseline late in

Sunday’s matchup between No. 3

Maryland and No. 6 Baylor. Reese

took two dribbles to get almost

directly under the basket, with all-

American NaLyssa Smith draped

on her back. The Terrapins’ star

sophomore powered through

Smith’s outstretched arms and

bounced off the contact for a bully-

ing move in the post. The layup was

good — and she was fouled.

Mimi Collins came in with a

chest bump that forced Reese to

the baseline, where she stared at

the roaring Xfinity Center crowd.

She then gathered her teammates

and shouted about closing out the

final 68 seconds.

Reese’s three-point play ended

up being the difference in a 79-76

statement victory for the Terps.

She grabbed the final rebound af-

ter B aylor’s S arah A ndrews missed

what would have been a game-ty-

ing three-pointer, then sprinted

down the court while pointing to

the ceiling.

“We’ve made it known w hat our

goals are, and I thought today we

absolutely took a step toward

that,” said Maryland Coach Bren-

da Frese, whose team won its first

five games by an average of

34 points. “I thought we showed

tremendous resiliency, especially

down the stretch.”

Owusu led Maryland (6-0) with

24 points, reaching 1,000 for her

career, and six assists. Reese fin-

ished with 17 points, nine re-

bounds and two steals in 19 min-

utes while dealing with foul trou-

ble. Chloe Bibby (16 points, five

SEE MARYLAND ON D4

Terrapins hold o≠ Bears

to tip o≠ a difficult week

MARYLAND 79,

BAYLOR 76