This happened: In the fourth quarter of their two-touchdown loss to the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants were vainly trying to rally by throwing the ball often, which put their offensive line in some distress. And during a third-down pass, New York right tackle Nate Solder found himself facing the wrong way and actually blocking a teammate instead of Denver pass rusher Von Miller.
No bueno.
This also happened: In their opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Washington Football Team expected to pick right up where it finished last season -- as one of the best defenses overall and perhaps the NFL's best third-down defense. The WFT allowed a paltry 38 percent conversion rate on third down last year, seventh best in the NFL.
The WFT is showing up with a curious quarterback situation. Fitzpatrick got hurt and Taylor Heinicke is the new starter.
That makes sense because Heinicke's been with the club all offseason and has a connection to coach Ron Rivera, having played for Carolina in 2018.
What's interesting is that Washington didn't go looking for a starting quarterback in a familiar place following Sunday's game. The club decided Cam Newton, who also has a history with Rivera in Carolina, is not the right fit.
Newton wasn't the right fit when the New England Patriots cut him.
And he wasn't the right fit when Fitzpatrick got hurt.
If this continues, pretty soon we're going to figure out Washington doesn't see Newton as the right fit.
So it's Heinicke's team, at least on Thursday.
"Something I've been dreaming about my whole life, being a starting quarterback in the NFL, and here we are," Heinicke said Tuesday. "So, I really try and take it one day at a time, one meeting at a time, one play at a time. I feel like if I just live in the moment, everything else will take care of itself.
"I don't try and get too ahead of myself. When we're at practice, I just listen to the play, remember what we talked about in meetings, what we're trying to get accomplished, and really take it one play at a time.
"We'll worry about the other stuff later."
Heinicke will be making only his second NFL start. He lost his first one in 2018.