5 takeaways from Washington’s loss

How did the Commanders only come away with 126 net passing yards against the No. 28 passing defense in the NFL? Two reasons: Quarterback Taylor Heinicke and offensive coordinator Scott Turner [more on him later.

Heinicke did some good things Sunday. There was one play where he stood in the face of pressure and delivered a bullet in the middle of the field to Terry McLaurin for a big first down. There was the scramble on third down, along the sideline where he saw Curtis Samuel for another big first down.

Then there was the decision on the big touchdown. Yes, the result was great, but those are the types of things that are always going to come back and haunt you. You can’t throw into triple coverage — ever. On Heinicke’s interception, he had a relatively open Logan Thomas going across the middle. A good throw is a Washington first down around midfield. However, somehow, Heinicke missed the 6-foot-6 Thomas by a mile and the pass went into the waiting arms of Minnesota safety Harrison Smith, who returned it 35 yards. The Vikings tied it up two plays later.

Heinicke gets at least one more start. He’s going to need to be really good against an excellent Philadelphia defense on Monday night to keep head coach Ron Rivera from going back to Carson Wentz when he’s eligible to return. The Eagles are a much tougher defense than the Vikings, so Heinicke will have his work cut our for him. Ask Wentz.