Hein-O-Meter: Week 7 vs. Packers

[Boone]

After an emergency re-programming of our BGO Supercomputer to account for Taylor Heinicke's stature and arm strength, we rebooted this week against the Green Bay Packers. Our mainframe had it's work cut out this week, trying to reconcile a godawful first half during which Heinicke did his best to make us pine for the good old days of Carson Wentz, with an exceptional 2nd half effort.

Heinicke finished completing 61% of his passes on the day, for 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. One area Heinicke showed definite improvement on was mobility. With a little help from our cobbled-together offensive line, Taylor was sacked just a single time. Heinicke completed passes to 9 different targets on the day, including 8 each to both Terry McLaurin (who finally was significantly involved in the offense) and Curtis Samuel. Heinicke helped lead an offense that racked up 364 yds to Green Bay's 232, and which held the ball 37:07 to the Packer's 22:53. The Heinicke lead offense converted on 7/16 3rd down opportunities while the defense prevented even a single Green Bay conversion on 3rd down, a feat no defense has managed since 1999, and a first in Aaron Rodger's career.

On the day, our BGO Supercomputer awarded Taylor Heinicke a Hein-O-Meter score of 7.3.

We'll see which Taylor Heinicke shows up in Week 8 against the Colts.

 

[Miles Monroe]

I would have went with a seven, but he gets an extra point just because he's fun to watch. 8

 

[Boone]

One way to keep it in perspective. We had to make NFL history to win today. That won't happen often so Heinicke is going to have to be better.

 

[Canadian Hog]

I gave Taylor a 6 today.

I love watching him play, the entertainment value is second to none because for as bad as he can be from time to time, you know he is always going to fight, battle, and keep grinding. Sooner or later, he is going to make a few good plays that make you smile. He embodies a lot of what I love about the NFL - relishing in that underdog role and defying the odds.

That all said, I am realistic about who he is and how far this team can go with him behind center. The defense was enormously important in Taylor grinding out a win today. He was bad enough in the first half that this game could have easily went sideways in a hurry had it not been for the performance of Del Rio's unit.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

Taylor was indeed poor in the 1st half. A curve could be granted though...he's been out of the starter's routine for a while.

Second half, he got solid. Some real bonus points for that end-of-game throw to Mclaurin though. Real poise to deliver the ball where it had to go...we needed that. That's not something that is common.

I think 7.5 is about right. He did dig himself a hole, but did he climb out of it.

 

[DieselPwr44]

Gave him a 7.

You all know why.....

 

[Skinsfan1311]

We're home now, (went to the game),and decompressing after that crazy finish. I gave him a 6. If not for the pick 6 and the called back fumble, it would've been a 7-8

 

[Boone]

I heard Fans booed Tanya Snyder on the Jumbotron and started a ‘Sell the Team’ chant…

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I heard Fans booed Tanya Snyder on the Jumbotron and started a ‘Sell the Team’ chant…

Truth.
I didn't boo her, but did chant....

 

[Boone]

I’m just curious - was this just a couple hundred people or did the whole stadium join in?

 

[SilentThreat]

I gave him a 6

I wasn't able to watch the game, but I listened to the radio broadcast while driving back from Tennessee... I'll watch the condensed version in the next day or two and possibly change.

6 because we won. He had some really good throws, like both TDs, also threw it away on 3rd down instead of trying to force a TD, or an extended scramble that's more risky.

Problem is that he had the same amount of passing yards in the first quarter as Carson Wentz did, and he had more yards to Packers players than he did Commanders players in the first half. (1 INT could have easily been 3 or 4 in the first half).

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I’m just curious - was this just a couple hundred people or did the whole stadium join in?

The whole stadium. It was loud

I couldn't bring myself to boo, but I joined in the chant.

 

[Boone]

He claimed in the post-game presser that it was ‘nerves’ in the first half. Don’t know if that was it or he was just bad. We won’t win many if he plays more halves like that one though.

 

[Boone]

Man - I wish it had been during live action so TV would’ve caught it.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

Man - I wish it had been during live action so TV would’ve caught it.

No doubt. They do those spots during commercial breaks. I think that she's done a lot to help raise money for breast cancer,(she's a cancer survivor),.so I couldn't bring myself to boo her.
I had no problem, however, chanting "Sell the team!, at the top of my lungs.

 

[Chris]

I generously gave Taylor a 5. Only a very heavy dose of good fortune (luck) kept the game from being hopelessly out of reach in the first 15 minutes. Perhaps he was suffering from a case of nerves, which is understandable, and will improve from here. He needs to because Green Bay is a pretty shitty team and only Houston and Atlanta are their equivalent on the remaining schedule.

There are many things Taylor isn’t, including boring.

 

[Rhino-Rhino]

I gave him a 5 simply because he was the worst QB I've ever seen in the first half and in the second half he turned it around and made plays .Kudos to him but I need to see more

 

[Bulldog]

I gave him an 8. Here's a backup that received few first team snaps in practice in 2 months and went into the game cold. It took him a half to get his sea legs and then he performed well enough to get the 'W'. And while the Packers are not evidently the Packers of the past few years in 2022, they are still a much more talented team overall including on D than the Bears or Jaguars, teams that Wentz was able to get the 'W' against.

That 8 is conditional - I don't think Taylor is the quarterback of the future. But his performance yesterday was analogous to what Wentz did in his wins, and for $3M in a backup that's pretty good. For $28M in a starter, that's pretty disappointing.

So, what Taylor shows me is that we aren't getting much value out of Carson Wentz on the field. He is a below the 'Mendoza' line quarterback in the NFL at 29/30 and clearly not the playmaking quarterback with the ability to make hay rolling out of the pocket like he was early in his career in Philly.

As brought out by JP Finlay, given what Wentz has shown so far it's now likely that Wentz won't post the 70% of reps level that would have triggered the upgrade of that #3 pick in 2023 to a #2. And given where this team is and how Wentz was playing that is important as this team still has a lot of holes and can't afford to give away top draft picks going forward for average return at best.

Again, Carson Wentz to me is a 29/30 version of what we have seen out of Joe Flacco in recent seasons. A strong arm but literally immobile in the pocket and a guy that takes drive killing sacks because he just doesn't have the wheels to protect himself.

Taylor also learned Rule #1 for the Washington offense - GET THE BALL TO TERRY MCLAURIN AND GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.

 

[Boone]

Agree except Flacco is far, far more immobile than Wentz who can still move some - when he is of the mind.

I’ll root for Heinicke of course, but it is obvious to anyone watching that his arm is barely adequate at the NFL level. I think of the 3 QBs, Howell may be the answer as he does have an NFL arm and possesses some of the same playmaking ability and moxie that Heinicke possesses.

 

[Bulldog]

I agree, on raw talent and overall ability Howell in a lineup of players without a name on the jersey would likely be the starter.

But as we know Ron and Co. gave up draft picks for Wentz and come hell or high water they are going to get him back on the field regardless of the record to try and show they didn't make a mistake.

The truth is they gave up too much, both in terms of picks and taking on the entire $28M salary for 2022 in the trade.

Wentz to me looks like a guy that a year or two from now will be a backup somewhere in the NFL and will be working on a $2-3M contract.

The vision that Ron threw out there of sitting in front of the tapes from 2021 and evaluating Wentz on his own is a bit troubling.

While if true it is a relief that Snyder did not mandate the trade.

But Rivera as a defensive player and then defensive coach for many years is hardly Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay when evaluating offensive players and fits to particular systems, etc.

Again, I think this whole argument brings up the validity of the 'coach-centric' approach in most cases.

Yes, there are the coaches like Belichick, Reid and Parcells that have done it all themselves wearing many hats in their organizations and were successful, those are the EXCEPTIONS.

75 to 80% of these guys that become both HC and GM and run a team top to bottom FAIL to win anything of note.