The time for pregame bulletin board material is over and the fight was on at FedEx Field, but the Washington Football Team turned into a punching bag en route to losing 27-20 to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Washington instead laid down and caved in the face of pressure, in a game that could’ve sent a potent message to both the division and the conference that its poised to make waves going down the stretch and potentially into the playoffs.
Gregory negated a Prescott interception by creating a tip drill that he then reeled in for his first career interception, and Prescott rewarded him by driving down the field and finding four-time Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper for a touchdown.
That, in and of itself, tells you how cavernous the difference was between the quality of the two teams on Sunday, even as the Cowboys offense tried to implode when it mattered most.
Heinecke was under siege for most of the day and, mixed in with mistakes not fueled by duress, had a passer rating of 0.0 late in the second quarter and finished the first half with a rating of just 4.9.
To drive further home the ineptitude of Washington’s offense, it amassed only 29 total yards and were 0-for-6 on third down at the half.
A red-hot four-game win streak not only comes to a halt for Washington, but in humiliating fashion against a bitter rival who, even playing less-than-stellar football, simply outclassed them on their own field.
This is one of the rare weeks that see two plays in this category, and even more rare is in how they were both delivered by the same person.