Redskins 20, Giants 20
The Redskins have played much better since Taylor Heinicke replaced Carson Wentz. However, Heinicke has been dying to give games away with some ugly floaters. This cost him against the Vikings, but he hadn’t been punished since. Heinicke nearly paid the price in this game when two other horrible floaters, one of which was nearly hauled in by a diving Giants safety. This, however, was not the problem, as this pass occurred after Heinicke was strip-sacked on the first play of the second half. This set up a Giants touchdown, with New York going up 20-13. This would be the last time either team would score for a while.
Heinicke made amends for his earlier mistake on a late drive when he converted a fourth down while drifting toward the sideline. He then found Jahan Dotson, who spun out of a tackle to score a 28-yard touchdown to tie the game.
With neither offense having much success in the second half, it was no surprise that both teams failed to score in overtime. Neither team could venture deep into opposing territory, though the Giants had the best penetration after a Redskins three-and-out that was the result of their utter refusal to block Kayvon Thibodeaux on one play. This set up a 58-yard Graham Gano field goal attempt, which was short, giving these squads an underwhelming tie.
Heinicke finished 27-of-41 for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Heinicke did well in the first half and the final drive of regulation, but struggled otherwise in the second half. He’s fortunate that he didn’t commit multiple turnovers. I counted three potential interceptions that were dropped in the second half. He also took a bad sack to move out of field goal range.
Terry McLaurin had a monster game, catching eight of his 12 targets for 105 yards and a touchdown, which was a one-handed grab. As mentioned earlier, Dotson also scored impressively. He caught five passes for 54 yards. Curtis Samuel chipped in with six catches for 63 yards.
Brian Robinson shouldered most of the workload, getting 21 carries compared to Antonio Gibson’s nine. Robinson rumbled for 96 yards. Both backs caught two passes, with Gibson edging out Robinson in receiving yards, 20-15.
Robinson outgained Saquon Barkley, though Barkley had the better fantasy performance because he was able to find the end zone. Barkley rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and he also caught five passes for 18 receiving yards.
