Washington vs. Packers Week 7 NFL spread, odds: Taylor Heinicke remains Ron Rivera's starting quarterback for now; Antonio Gibson could miss time

Then-virtual unknown Taylor Heinicke was a great story for the Washington Football Team in the wild-card game last season against the eventual Super Bowl champion Bucs, and he was a nice story early this year in leading Washington to close victories over the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons in place of an injured Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, it's now pretty clear that Heinicke isn't a starting QB in the NFL – at least not for a good team. With WFT at a disappointing 2-4, though, Coach Ron Rivera says there will be no change under center for Sunday's trip to Green Bay, which opened as a 9.5-point favorite.

In Sunday's 31-13 home loss to Kansas City, Heinicke threw for just 182 yards on 39 attempts with a touchdown and interception. He continually checked down against one of the NFL's worst defenses, with 13 of his 15 second-half passes fewer than 10 yards in the air. Washington didn't score after intermission and none of its four full drives lasted longer than seven plays or 32 yards. For the first time in his NFL career as a starter, Heinicke didn't attempt a single rush.

Over his last two games, Heinicke is 44-of-80 (55 percent) passing with one touchdown and three interceptions. He has missed several open receivers. With Fitzpatrick still on injured reserve due to a hip injury and not expected off it this week, Rivera was asked Monday if he would consider going to Kyle Allen as the starter. He was 1-3 as the starter last year.

"No. I've been very confident in what we've done with Taylor. … Not every week is going to be as productive as we want it to be," Rivera said.

Perhaps Allen isn't a realistic option right now as he hasn't thrown a meaningful pass since Week 9 last year vs. the Giants when he suffered an ankle injury that landed him on injured reserve. He spent most of this training camp on the sidelines and didn't see any preseason action.

Losing Gibson certainly wouldn't help Heinicke. Gibson tried to play through a stress fracture in his shin but was in and out constantly against the Chiefs, aggravated the injury and had an MRI – no results yet, but it's fairly likely he misses at least Sunday's game. That would make JD McKissic a top Fantasy waiver wire add this week as he took over as the featured back Sunday when Gibson couldn't go any longer.

Washington is just 5-12 all-time at Lambeau Field including playoffs. Green Bay enters on a five-game SU & ATS winning streak.

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