NFC East Showdown. Was the Stage Too Big For Washington?

Listen to members of the Washington Football Team talk to the media after falling to the Dallas Cowboys, 27-20 on Sunday and a theme starts to emerge.

"A couple times, I thought he was a little hesitant," head coach Ron Rivera said about starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke. "I thought he held the ball a little bit more than he should have. … He got kind of pressed a little bit. I'd like to see him get back to taking what's out there..."

What we witnessed on Sunday was arguably the worst half of football in Rivera's tenure as the leader in Washington.

The second half went a little differently, with his team finding a way to claw back into the contest.

"Coming out in the second half, I thought the guys came out with some resolve," Rivera said. "I thought they got physical, especially with that first drive where we got to midfield and then Taylor threw the big ball to Cam (Sims)."

The scoring pass from Heinicke to Sims, and the successful two-point try that followed, trimmed the leat to 27-8. And it came on the drive following the series Heinicke threw a hanging deep ball that star receiver Terry McLaurin went up for, and landed hard on the FedEx Field surface trying to come down with.

On the third-down play, Heinicke had wide receiver Curtis Samuel open near the first-down line to gain. … And bypassed him for the chance to get bigger yards, with his team down 24.

"The good thing I did in the last four games was taking what they gave me," Heinicke said when asked about his own work "Whether it's a five-yard hitch or a 20-yard seven route."

On Sunday, Heinicke didn't take what the Cowboys gave him; he tried to take more than he was capable of getting.

Speaking of giving, running back Antonio Gibson continues to lead NFL running backs in the fumbles category.

"You know, it happens," Gibson said about the fumble. "(Expletive) happens, but you gotta shake it off and keep going."

That's one way of looking at a fumble that directly led to three points for the opponent.

As for Gibson's feeling about the first half?

“I feel like they just came to play that first half," he said. "We just couldn't get the ball going."

Veteran safety Landon Collins has been in plenty of divisional games, unlike the less-experienced Heinicke and Gibson.

"It was more emotional in the first half," Collins said. "A lot was going on, but then we came back and just stuck our heads down and played ball."

Was the stage too big for the WFT coming into the game? Sounds like it may have been.

Good news is the team settled down during halftime and came out better for it in the second half, even it wasn't perfect in the final two quarters.

Maybe that’s something to draw from, as the team enters another big divisional contest against the Philadelphia Eagles next weekend.

"Keeping the emotions under control and keep everybody steady," Collins responded when asked what the team can take away from this past first half, as it is now headed to Philadelphia. "But at the same time doing our job."

The job is certainly far from over. And Washington isn't out of the divisional race, and still holds the seventh seed in the NFC Playoff picture.

With four games to go, the Washington Football Team still holds its fate in its own hands, and a football-watching world will be looking to see how this roster bounces back.

If they can stand the winter heat - and more, the spotlight’s melting glare - they'll be playing football in mid-January.