With Alex Smith inactive, Ron Rivera turns the offensive over to Taylor Heinicke.
Taylor who?
In 2012, Heinicke threw for a Division I-record 730 yards as Old Dominion beat New Hampshire 64-61 in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams. Heinicke set school records for completions (55), attempts (79), and passing yards (730).
A four-year starter for the Monarchs, Heinicke finished his college career with nearly 15,000 passing yards and 132 touchdown passes — both school records. He also scored 22 rushing touchdowns.
By the time he graduated from Old Dominion, Heinicke had almost every school passing record to his name. His 14,959 career passing yards are over 9,000 more than the next highest in school history, while his 132 passing touchdowns are over 80 more than the next closest.
Heinicke went undrafted in 2015 but signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
In 2017, Heinicke was waived/injured by the Vikings and was placed on the injured reserve. He was released with an injury settlement on Sept. 11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzdrvvONOzU
He also has been with the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans.
On Dec.8, Heinicke signed with the practice squad of the Washington Football Team. Prior to joining them, he was in the process of finishing his engineering degree at Old Dominion.
He lost his lone career start as a Panther in 2018.
On Dec. 27, he was 12-of-19 as the WFT faced the Panthers. He threw for 137 yards and a touchdown.
Today will be the 2nd start and 1st playoff game of Taylor Heinicke's career.
He is the 4th starting QB for Washington this season. The order:
Haskins
Haskins
Haskins
Haskins
Allen
Allen
Allen
Allen
Smith
Smith
Smith
Smith
Smith
Haskins
Haskins
Smith
Heinicke— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) January 9, 2021
So the matchup in the Wild-Card game is Heinecke vs. Tom Brady.