Taylor Heinicke: An underdog story

However this game turns out, the Washington Football Team might have something in quarterback Taylor Heinicke, as he seems to be living out an underdog story on Saturday night.

Signed to the practice squad to prevent a COVID-19 wipeout of the quarterback room similar to what happened to the Denver Broncos, Heinicke was given the start tonight for Washington against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Alex Smith dealing with a lingering calf injury.

Washington might end up very pleased they decided to sign him weeks ago.

With Washington trailing 18-10 in the third quarter they looked to cut into the Tampa Bay lead after their defense forced a turnover. First Heinicke dipped, dodged and ducked his way to a first down to move the chains on a 2nd-and-11:

Then a few plays later, Heinicke added that other “D,” the dive:

Somewhere, Patches O’Houlihan is proud.

He would also be proud of throws like this:

Can the Football Team pull off the upset behind their underdog of a quarterback? That remains to be seen. But this organization might have found something in Heinicke.