Wildcard Preview: Showdown vs Panthers

jniles08

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Washington Redskins vs Carolina Panthers.

Kickoff: Friday, Oct 27th at 5 CST.
TV: Stream
Spread: Not Released​

While the general consensus is that the Redskins backed their way into the playoffs, that has not affected the mindset of head coach Jay Gruden. "You don't win 9 games in this league by mistake." Said Gruden. "We have a group of guys that we believe deserve to be here and we are going to go out and prove that to the nay-sayers".

That will be easier said than done. the Panthers, led by the league's most valuable player Cam Newton, will be a tall task in the first round of the playoffs.

3 Things to know about the Panthers:

1. Cam Newton can not be completely shut down, only hope is to slow him down.

While others on this team had decent years including rookie running back/wide receiver Christan Mccaffrey, Cam Newton was above and beyond deserving of his MVP award. Newton passed for 29 touchdowns, and found the end zone 13 times more on the ground showcasing his true "dual-threat" ability. The Redskins are going to need a hell of a game plan for this one, and that game plan should focus around slowing down Cam Newton.

2. Over 2,500 yards of rushing offense this season.

While Cam Newton could certainly chuck it around, a potentially even more impressive part of this team is the ability to move the ball on the ground. As a team, the Panthers ran for over 2,500 yards this season. Led by Jonathan Steward(1,210 yards, 9 TD), & Christian McCaffrey(838 yards, 8 TD), this two back duo will certainly make it tough to get the Redskins defense off the field. When you do manage to stop these two which may require all the focus, Cam Newton actually led the team in rushing TD with 13.

3. While running may be a problem, the passing lanes may be open.

The team only allowed 83 rushing yards per game this season, good for 3rd in the league, however they allowed the 4th most passing yards in the league. I imagine that this is something Jay Gruden of the Redskins has written down somewhere although he has to be careful as the Panthers did have 23 interceptions this season to go along with 4 defensive touchdowns which the Redskins have found to be absolute killers off the arm of Kirk Cousins.

3 Things to know about the Redskins:

1. Kirk Cousins has had a roller coaster of a season.

Cousins started the year with very decent numbers, throwing for 8 touchdowns in the first 4 weeks of the season. He was injured in week 6 against San Francisco and missed a few weeks of the season. He has not been the same guy since coming back. In the final 9 games of the season, Cousins tossed only 8 touchdown passes, while actually throwing 18 interceptions. That is good for 2 interceptions per game. Needless to say that the Redskins went from being 4-1 at one point to limping to the finish with a 5-6 record over the final 11 games.

2. Each of the Redskins offensive ranks are in the top 25% of the league.

While at times this offense was frustrating, the team has actually had a fairly decent offensive output this season. They are 7th in scoring with an average of 30 points per game, while being 5th in the league in overall offensive yards per game. Passing is 6th in the league at an even 250 yards per game, while their ground attack ranks 8th at 129 yards per game. Not too shabby for a team without a 1,000 rushing yard rusher on the roster.

3. The Redskins are finally getting healthy

The Injury bug hit the Redskins early on with receivers Terrelle Pryor, Jamison Crowder, & Josh Doctson all missing multiple weeks throughout the season leaving the man under center without a decent wide receiver to throw to. Jordan Reed was the teams shining star leading the team by a decent margin in receptions and catching 8 touchdown passes this year, although his production fell the past 2 weeks of the season as well only catching an average of 3 grabs a game for under 50 yards.

Both of the teams Tackles have missed extended time and are both finally back and ready to protect the quarterback. Trent Williams was out for 8 weeks and Morgan Moses missed 7 in a devastating week which seen both tackles go down in the same game.

Zach Brown is still out and will not be returning this season which has been a huge loss for the team from the middle linebacker position. Linebacker Trent Murphy also has missed the entire season this year, furthering the effect that the loss of Zach Brown had.


Redskins 3 Keys to Victory


1. Limit Mistakes

Kirk Cousins has to play smart. This team cannot afford a 2 or 3 interception, especially not a 4 interception game like we have seen Kirk Cousins capable of producing. Cousins must play smart, and if a play is covered, live to play another down.

2. Win the turnover battle.


Continuing off of #1, the Panthers lost 1 game this season. That being the game where they had a turnover difference of -1 which was a rare occasion for this team. In order for the Redskins to have a fighting chance, they are going to have to win this battle on paper.

3. Keep the game close.

Carolina won 10 of it's 15 games this season by 1 possession or less. If the Redskins can keep the game close, they have a fighting chance of pulling out a victory. But ending up like the other 5 wins for the Panthers (an average of 20 points per victory), puts the nail in the coffin pretty quickly.
 
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