The Panthers came into today’s game with a 4-10 record and nothing more than pride on the line when they paid a visit to former head coach Ron Rivera and his new team, the Washington Football Team, in a Week 16 matchup where Washington had everything to play for.
In totally predictable Panthers fashion, Carolina dominated this game en route to a 20-13 win and cost themselves valuable spots in the 2021 draft order in the process. The Panthers are now 5-10 and have a chance to upset the Saints next weekend at home to close the season on a winning streak, but it could potentially cost them a new franchise quarterback in one of the better draft classes for the position we’ve seen in several years.
I’m not ‘mad’ that the Panthers won this game today, but I do have to say that I’m disappointed they decided now is the time to start winning games. I’m sure the Panthers will be alright in the long run, but at the same time it’s a little frustrating to see them throw away their best chance at turning the roster around by showing up to play when they didn’t really need the win.
My personal opinion on winning this game aside, the defense played well today and that should give us some hope for the future. This defense is very young and have been growing together all season, so if they can continue this momentum into 2021 they’ll be a tough unit to compete with next season, and that’s at least one positive to seeing the team go through a 5-11 or 6-10 season.
The season finale against the Saints is next Sunday at The Vault, and once again we’ll be divided between losing to improve our draft spot and winning to mess with the Saints’ playoff seeding. To be honest, either one of those outcomes is perfectly fine with me.
Live updates
Fourth quarter: Panthers 20 Football Team 13
The Panthers continued their drive as the fourth quarter began and Bridgewater was immediately sacked to bring up fourth down at midfield, so the Panthers punted the ball back to the Football Team.
The Panthers defense stepped up and got a huge stop on fourth-and-2 when the Football Team were trying to get back into the game and gave the ball back to the offense with 10:41 left in the game. The offense promptly went three-and-out and gave the ball right back to the Football Team with 9:09 left in the game.
Taylor Heinicke came into the game for the Football Team on their next drive and the Football Team drove down in to the red zone and scored a touchdown that was called back for holding, and then turned it over on downs when they failed to convert a fourth-and-18 play to give the Panthers a chance to drain more clock and preserve their 14-point lead.
Washington got the ball back after a three-and-out and scored a touchdown to make the game closer with less than two minutes left to make it a 20-13 game with 1:50 left on the clock.
Washington tried an onside kick but the Panthers recovered it and kneeled out the clock to preserve the 20-13 win.
Third quarter: Panthers 20 Football Team 6
The Panthers started the second half on offense and had a good drive going where they drained a decent amount of time off the clock (and even converted a fourth down), but the drive ended with no points after Chase Young forced Bridgewater to fumble the ball back to the Football Team’s defense.
The Football team made the Panthers pay for their mistake by driving down the field and putting points on the board. Unfortunately for them, it was only three as they had to settle for a field goal attempt on fourth-and-2. The kick was good and the Football Team cut into the Panthers’ lead to make it a 20-6 game with 4:09 left in the quarter.
On their next drive, he Panthers were fortunate that a whistle was blown just before Mike Davis fumbled the ball, otherwise the Football Team would have generated another turnover and possibly closed the gap even more. Alas, the Panthers maintained possession and ran out the clock on the third quarter with a 20-6 lead.
Second quarter: Panthers 20 Football Team 3
The Football Team punted the ball back to the Panthers offense to start the second quarter. The Panthers drove down the field and faced a fourth-and-goal situation from the 1-yard line when Mike Davis pounded the ball into the end zone to extend their lead. Slye’s extra point was good and the Panthers took a 13-0 lead with 8:33 left in the half.
The Football Team started to put a drive together but the Panthers defense came up with another turnover when Tahir Whitehead picked off Dwayne Haskins to give the Panthers another shot on offense with 6:40 left in the half.
The Panthers drove down the field again and scored another touchdown to extend their lead. Teddy Bridgewater found Curtis Samuel deep down the seam for a big gain to set up a touchdown pass to Robby Anderson. Joey Slye’s extra point was good and the Panthers extended their lead to 20-0 with 3:06 left in the half.
Washington put some points on the board on their next drive by kicking a 48-yard field goal with 1:20 left to cut the Panthers lead to 20-3 and prevent the shutout.
The Panthers were close to field goal range when Chase Young forced Bridgewater to make an errant throw that was picked off with 0:12 left in the half. Two plays later, Tre Boston picked off Haskins to give the Panthers the ball back with just 0:01 left on the clock. The Panthers kneeled out the clock to go into halftime with a 20-3 lead.
First quarter: Panthers 6 Football Team 0
The Panthers won the opening toss and deferred to the second half. The defense did their job and forced a quick three-and-out to give the offense their first drive with the ball.
The offense did a decent job of driving down the field but stalled and faced a fourth-and-5 situation. Instead of opting for a 52-yard field goal, they went for it on fourth down and failed to convert, giving the ball back to Washington’s offense.
The Panthers defense stepped up and Marquis Haynes forced a fumble by Dwayne Haskins and the Panthers recovered it to give the ball back to the offense. The Panthers were unable to do anything with the turnover and punted the ball back to Washington after going three-and-out.
Washington failed to gain any traction on offense again and punted the ball right back to the Panthers’ offense. The Panthers punted the ball right back to Washington, but the punt was muffed and the ball bounced into the end zone and was recovered by Brandon Zylstra for a Panthers touchdown. Joey Slye’s extra point was no good and the Panthers took a 6-0 lead with 1:42 left in the quarter.
Washington faced a 4th-and-1 as the quarter came to a close.
Game day information
What: Carolina Panthers at Washington Football Team
When: Sunday, December 27 at 4:05 p.m. ET
Where: FedEx Field (Landover, Md.)
TV: CBS; Ian Eagle, Charles Davis
Streaming: FuboTV, CBS All Access, Yahoo! Sports, Panthers mobile app
Radio: Panthers radio (local); Mick Mixon
Spanish Radio: Panthers radio (local); Jaime Moreno, Antonio Ramos
Weather: 42° / Partly Cloudy / 3 mph S wind / 5% rain (complete forecast)
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