Washington Football Team: What happened in win over Tampa Bay

What happened in the Washington Football Team’s Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

2021 has been extremely disappointing for the Washington Football Team. After winning the NFC East last season, they were expected to be even better this year. Double-digit wins were not out of the realm of possibilities. A 2-6 start really dampened the mood though. And a Week 10 contest against the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers was doing nothing to turn those feelings around for the fans. Then came the game – and a pretty dominant win for Washington.

So what happened?

Quarterback Taylor Heinicke had one of his best games. He finished 26-for-32 with 256 yards and one touchdown, compared to no interceptions. He added 15 yards on three carries as well. A very clean game.

Washington Football Team: What happened in win over Tampa Bay

This isn’t all that wild though. Heinicke might be a bit of a wild card, but he has had very good games before.

They spread the ball around too. Antonio Gibson had 24 carries that led to two touchdowns, and nine different players picked up at least one reception. That definitely helps to get contributions from all over the place.

Let’s be honest though, this game was all about the defense.

Tampa Bay has an incredibly dangerous offense. Weapons everywhere and the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady leading them. They came into the week averaging over 400 yards of offense a game, and over 31 points per game. Washington held them to 273 yards of offense and just 19 points.

Despite picking up no sacks, they were able to create pressure. That pressure led to some big plays, including two interceptions.

Washington’s defense has been playing much better over the last few weeks. We’ve already talked about this in the past, mentioning that it might even be a little bit too late for it to matter. Maybe not though, as this win means a lot.

Everyone chalked this up as a loss for Washington. They were 2-7 in the minds of most. 3-6 isn’t all that much better. But it’s a 3-6 with a win that proves they can go out there and compete and get the W any week.

Washington suffered the major loss of Chase Young to a torn ACL in this game. That absolutely stings and let’s all hope the recovery goes well for him. But they still managed to completely stifle a Tom-Brady-led offense. That’s tough to do.

Maybe this was just a one-off performance. But there’s no denying that the defense had been playing better lately heading into Week 10. Then they went out there and balled out against the Buccaneers. Could this be the momentum they needed to at least make a run at it?

We’ll have to wait and see what next week brings against the Seattle Seahawks. But it looks like that Washington Football Team defense has come out to play.