Wash.’s work is paying off

GOOD THINGS are taking place in Washington at the moment, and suddenly the NFC East doesn’t look so much like the Cowboys’ to lose anymore.

Washington has responded to a four-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak entering its Sunday game at Las Vegas.

Washington (5-6) not only enters the game just 2 ¹/2 games behind the Cowboys (8-4), but it still has both games against the rivals remaining on the schedule, at home Dec. 12 and at Dallas on Dec. 26.

Washington appears to be on a similar trajectory to the one it was on last season, when it rallied from a 2-7 start to win the division and make the playoffs.

That trend isn’t unfamiliar to Washington coach Ron Rivera. In the five seasons, His teams, at Carolina and Washington have had losing records in the first half of the season five times. In four of those seasons, his teams finished .500 or better in the second half.

Washington lost starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in the second quarter of the season opener. Both top defensive ends, Montez Sweat (broken jaw) and Chase Young (torn ACL), have been lost to injury.

Receiver Curtis Samuel, an offseason acquisition, has played in just three games because of a groin injury, and top tight end Logan Thomas missed five games with a hamstring injury.

From all of that has emerged one of the best stories in the NFL this season: journeyman quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who’s taken over for Fitzpatrick and played well, particularly during the three-game streak.

Heinicke was undrafted in 2015 out of Old Dominion and signed with the Vikings. He next landed with the Patriots in 2017 and spent all of three weeks on their practice squad. Then came a stint with the Texans, then Rivera’s Panthers then a stop in the XFL with the St. Louis Battle Hawks in 2019.

Still, Washington, which will enter Sunday in the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC, is not taking anything for granted.

“We’re not out of [the hole] completely,” Rivera said. “It wasn’t going to happen overnight. We’re coming together and being the team we envisioned.”