Commanders Tie vs. Giants 'Feels Like a Loss', Says QB Taylor Heinicke

A 20-20 tie against the New York Giants drew mixed feelings for the Washington Commanders.

When the clock hit triple zeros, 70 minutes wasn’t enough to decide the game between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders.

A potential 58-yard game-winning field goal from Graham Gano fell short at the end of overtime, and the game ended in a 20-20 tie. The tie brought mixed feelings throughout Washington’s locker room.

“It’s a weird feeling,” Taylor Heinicke said. “It pretty much feels like a loss, but obviously, in the bigger picture, it doesn’t count as one. We’ll move on from this. We’ve got a bye week, and then we’ve got them again, so we’ve got to get ready for them again.”

After the tie, Washington finds itself on the outside looking in, in the NFC playoff picture. The Commanders dropped from the seventh seed to the eighth seed behind the Seattle Seahawks. New York stayed in the sixth seed with the tie.

The tie wasn’t because of a lack of opportunities. New York and Washington had the ball in opposing territory in the fourth quarter before penalties derailed those drives.

“We missed the opportunities; I mean it happens,” Ron Rivera said. “We overthrow a couple of guys, we miss a couple of blocks and stuff like that. Those are things that we’ve got to get shored up, we’ve got to get them fixed and get them ready to go.”

Terry McLaurin had eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown that gave the Commanders a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. He echoed Heinicke’s feelings toward a tie.

“It’s a little weird,” McLaurin said. “After the game, you don’t really know what to do next. Even the fans are still standing in the stands. Do we go to PKs? What do we do?”

After a bye week, Washington hosts New York on Dec. 18 on Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. After the tie on Sunday, the winner of the matchup on Dec. 18 would hold the tiebreaker at the end of the season.

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