The Buccaneers were able to close Washington’s lead to four points with just under 11 minutes left in Sunday’s road game, which meant they were one defensive stop away from giving Tom Brady a chance to win the game.
That stop never came, however. Washington picked up seven first downs and converted five third downs to maintain possession for more than 10 minutes before an Antonio Gibson touchdown capped the 19-play drive. The score put them up 29-19 and they took a knee on the two-point conversion to eliminate any chance that the Bucs could return it for two points of their own.
It was the longest drive of the season for Washington and quarterback Taylor Heinicke came up big on the series. He was 6-of-6 for 41 yards, including completions to Adam Humphries and Terry McLaurin to convert two of those third downs.
Heinicke was 26-of-32 for 252 yards and a touchdown overall in his first game since word broke that Ryan Fitzpatrick is not expected back this season. The win leaves Washington with a 3-6 record and hope that the second half of the season can be more frutiful for them. A trip to Carolina and a possible date with Cam Newton awaits in Week 11.
Defensive end Chase Young is almost certainly going to miss that game as the team fears he tore his ACL on Sunday. If tests confirm that, the 2020 defensive rookie of the year will be gone until 2022.
The Bucs have now lost two games in a row and their offense never really caught fire. They picked up 273 yards of offense on the day and 40 of them came on the Mike Evans touchdown that brought them within one score in the fourth quarter. Tom Brady was intercepted twice in the first half and went 23-of-44 for 220 yards as the Bucs failed to return from their bye week with a strong performance.
They’ll try to right the ship at home against the Giants next Monday night.
Washington knocks off Bucs for 29-19 win originally appeared on Pro Football Talk