Washington
Heinicke could lead the Commanders to a playoff run
Heinicke is bringing the main focus again to the sphere. Picture: Cooper Neill/Getty Photographs
The Commanders are having fun with a late-season momentum enhance underneath Taylor Heinicke, who’s received 4 of his final 5 video games as beginning quarterback.
Driving the information: After Sunday’s win over the Texans, head coach Ron Rivera introduced a task reversal: Heinicke will stay the group’s starter with Carson Wentz serving as backup.
State of play: The underdog QB’s current wins are an surprising however welcome flip of occasions for a group that began the season 1-4 and has a few 50% shot on the playoffs, in keeping with 538’s prediction.
- The 29-year-old Previous Dominion College alum hasn’t gotten these wins fully on his personal although. The Commanders’ line of defense has been a powerhouse, racking up a powerful 5 sacks on Sunday.
Why it issues: Bringing focus again to the sphere is a wanted shift after plenty of consideration has been on proprietor Dan Snyder and his newest spherical of scandals.
Sure, however: The playoffs are nonetheless a protracted shot. The NFC East is a aggressive convention and the last-ranked Commanders nonetheless have two extra losses than the third-ranked Giants.
What’s subsequent: For Heinicke’s success to finish in a playoff run, the Commanders must maintain profitable. They’re favored to beat the Falcons on Sunday.
After that, they’ll have two robust back-to-back video games in opposition to the Giants — a group that began the season robust however has not too long ago struggled with accidents and a shock loss to the Lions.
- It’ll additionally assist if the Eagles and Cowboys — at the moment ranked first and second within the convention — begin shedding.
- At the moment, the Eagles have one loss on their file, courtesy of the Commanders current Monday Evening Soccer win.
Zoom out: The Commanders may have gotten a playoff spot if the Cardinals had overwhelmed the 49ers final night time, however no such luck. Washington should discover one other approach in.
The underside line: Heinicke is making the Commanders enjoyable to observe once more, and it doesn’t matter what drama surrounds the group proprietor or its future stadium location, that’s a win for D.C.
Washington is not going to announce a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game, which is a particularly prudent decision given the way Oregon forces quarterbacks to get off schedule. If the Huskies do start Will Rogers, the offensive line holding up to prevent Harmon and Uiagalelei from getting home will be crucial in keeping the senior on time to deliver throws to Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson, both of whom should be able to create some opportunities when the Ducks get into man coverage.
If Washington instead turns to Williams, the Huskies will have to keep tabs on edge rusher Teitum Tuioti (jersey No. 44), who was tasked with tracking Locke two weeks ago against Wisconsin. Locke is a mobile quarterback, and the Badgers run a fair amount of zone read and RPOs, which would be a bigger part of the playbook with Williams in, but Tuioti has the wheels to run down quarterbacks on those plays if they keep the ball. Oregon does a good job of making sure that he’s the edge defender on the read side of those option plays as well.
Whoever is at quarterback, Washington needs to trust Boston, who has been held under 50 receiving yards in four of his last five games. Opposing defenses are rightly putting more attention on the sophomore, but Oregon’s defense is constructed perfectly for Boston to create opportunities – he’s a proficient deep route runner, whether on a go or a post, and has won plenty of slants this season that should provide underneath options.
On the ground, Wisconsin found a ton of success running outside zone and counter two weeks ago, especially on a second half drive that included ten straight rushes and concluded with a field goal after 16 plays. On that drive, the Badgers did a better job of getting a blocker to the second level and onto a linebacker, but Wisconsin’s running back was also seeing the play perfectly and making excellent cuts nearly every time. Washington will need a similar showing from Jonah Coleman, who just carved up an excellent UCLA defense to the tune of 95 yards and 2 touchdowns with a very similar blueprint.
The Oregon Ducks have the opportunity to complete their undefeated regular season in Autzen Stadium for senior night against rival Washington Huskies.
The Pacific Northwest rivalry dates back to Dec. 1, 1900 when the Ducks beat the Huskies, 43-0. Washington comfortably holds the all-time lead in the rivalry, 63–48–5.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning has yet to get a win over Washington in his career with an 0-3 record since taking over the Ducks’ coaching reins back in 2022. That makes for an even more exciting atmosphere set to take place in Eugene, but where does this game rank the best rivalries that college football has to offer?
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns
The Red River Rivalry looks a bit different with both programs moving to the Southeastern Conference in 2024. Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers has put Texas into a position for both a SEC Championship as well as a first round bye in the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns took care of the Sooners handedly back on Oct. 12 in the Cotton Bowl, 34-3. Texas leads the all-time series over Oklahoma at 64-51-5.
Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
This is the most historic and popular rivalry that the Big Ten Conference has to offer. Michigan is on top of the all-time series over Ohio State, 61-51-6. The two will face each other on Saturday, and the Buckeyes need a win (or a loss from either the Penn State Nittany Lions or Indiana Hoosiers) in order to secure their bid into the Big Ten Conference championship against the Ducks.
California Golden Bears vs. Stanford Cardinal
Every sports fanatic remembers “The Play” in the Big Game back in 1982. The rivalry in the Bay Area dates all the way back to 1892, and is still going strong despite both schools making the move from the Pac-12 Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference, On Nov. 23, the Bears won with a 92-yard drive during the closing minutes in Berkeley, 24-21. The Cardinal still lead the all-time series, 65–51–11.
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn Tigers
The Kick Six is burned into the minds of college football fans all around. Auburn improbably beat Alabama as Tigers cornerback Chris Davis returned a field goal attempt to the house as time expired back in 2013, and Auburn won 34-28. The Iron Bowl rivalry is in control of the Crimson Tide at 50-37-1 but Alabama coach Kalen Deboer needs a win on Saturday to keep his team’s College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Army Black Knights vs. Navy Midshipmen
America’s Game is even more meaningful in 2024 with both programs having one of their best seasons in recent history. The Black Knights have to go from playing the Tulane Waves for the American Athletic Conference Championship on Dec. 6 to playing Navy on Dec. 14. The Midshipmen are winning the all-time series, 62-55-7.
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The Washington Huskies are facing an uphill battle as they take on the top-ranked Oregon Ducks in Autzen Stadium this weekend. As Jedd Fisch and the Huskies head to Eugene, they’re going to be notable underdogs in this rivalry matchup. At least that’s the case if you ask ESPN Analytics (and just about any neutral party that happens to be headed to Las Vegas to gamble on this game right now).
According to the latest numbers from the ESPN Analytics Matchup Predictor, the Huskies have just an 11.2 percent chance of coming out on top of the Ducks on Saturday. That’s not exactly a great percentage if you’re wanting Washington to win this game.
So, what does that mean for the Ducks and Huskies? Is UW’s fate set in stone simply because some computer calculations and scenarios have Oregon coming out on top and ending Washington’s three-game winning streak in this rivalry?
Well, it’s a little complicated.
Essentially, to oversimplify this whole thing, along with all of the numbers that are thrown into a bunch of computers for ESPN’s Football Power Index, some simulations of games are run. And basically, Washington just isn’t winning many of these hypothetical computer matchups.
As these two teams get set to face off for the first time in the Big Ten, it’s worth remembering that rivalry can often bring a bit of chaos.
Along with all of the other context that is worth considering at the moment (including just how dominant Dan Lanning and the Ducks have been at times this season and how flawed they’ve looked at others), it’s worth considering that maybe the human element of all of this might matter a bit.
Or maybe it won’t. And maybe Oregon will come out and absolutely steamroll Washington. I, for one, don’t want to see that happen. But we do need to acknowledge the possibility of such a thing happening, I suppose.
Washington has won three games in a row in this series and the Huskies hold an all-time series lead of 63-48-5. But this game feels a little different than some of those recent wins over Oregon in the past couple seasons. UW is in a rebuilding year while Oregon has a cohesive roster built ready to compete for a national title.
Washington will need to demonstrate that it can contend with a national title caliber team to be able to pull off this rivalry road upset this weekend. We’ll see how it unfolds as the Huskies and Ducks meet up at 4:30 p.m. in Autzen Stadium.
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