Week 8: Taylor Heinecke, Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinecke has been named the DC Touchdown Club Pro Football Player of the Week after leading the Commanders to a late rally to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-16, this past Sunday.

Heinecke, making his second start this season, shook off a slow start and made several key plays late in the fourth quarter. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 279 yards and one touchdown. The Commanders trailed 16-7 before scoring 10 points in the final five minutes.

The Commanders, who evened their record at 4-4, drove 89 yards for the winning score as Heinecke directed the game-winning drive. On fourth-and-1, he scrambled to buy time and threw a 12-yard pass to Curtis Samuel. Later, Heinecke used his feet to keep the play alive and improvised, throwing a 33-yard pass to Terry McLaurin, who wrestled the ball away from five-time Pro Bowler Stephon Gilmore.

“Terry was actually a decoy on that play based on the coverage we got,” Heinecke said. “Then it turned into a scramble drill. Before I got out of the pocket, I saw the pocket was very clean, so I stood back there and let the receivers do their thing and get open. I looked back to the left and I saw Terry get behind Gilmore and said, ‘Hey, let’s give it a shot.’ He continues to make the plays.”

That moved the ball to the Colts’ 1-yard line and Heinecke lunged into the end zone on a quarterback sneak on the ensuing play for the winning score. Heinecke was 5 of 5 for 76 yards on the drive.

It was the third consecutive game that the Commanders have rallied in the second half to win. Carson Wentz led the comeback in a 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears, then Heinecke took over last week after Wentz was sidelined by a broken finger and led the Commanders to a 23-21 win over the Green Bay Packers.