The Panthers blew a 14-point lead at home today against the worst team in the NFC. After falling behind early, the Redskins dominated from the second quarter on and went on to win by a score of 29-21.
Here are five takeaways from a disturbing Week 13 loss.
Christian McCaffrey got lost in the shuffle
After a string of outstanding performances, McCaffrey was probably due for a quiet game. McCaffrey had a strong first drive to begin this one. After that, he got lost in the shuffle. Washington’s defensive front seven did a solid job of shutting him down. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner gave up too early on McCaffrey, though. No. 22 finished the afternoon with just 44 rushing yards on 14 carries and was held out of the end zone. He also dropped a couple of passes.
Carolina’s offensive line was exposed
One of the reasons McCaffrey wasn’t able to get going was the state of Carolina’s offensive line. Terrible run blocking wasn’t the only problem, either. The Panthers’ front five allowed Kyle Allen to get sacked seven times and hit 10 times. To be fair, the unit is missing a couple of starters and that was apparent on the field today. Center Matt Paradis and left guard Daryl Williams stood out in particular as having a tough time in pass protection.
Kyle Allen was hot and cold again
All of that pressure eventually got to Allen, who is nothing if not maddeningly inconsistent. Allen completed the first eight passes of the game and threw two touchdowns in the bargain. After Washington’s defense tightened up Allen appeared to get rattled, though. It was all downhill after the first quarter. Allen threw another bad interception that led to an easy touchdown for the Redskins. For the game, Allen completed 27 of 46 passes and had a 81.6 passer rating. Allen is going to go up and down like this. He has yet to string together two impressive weeks in a row.
The defense missed Dontari Poe
Our top key to the game was the Panthers defense being able to contain Adrian Peterson. That’s easier said than done, of course – especially when you’re missing your best run-stuffing tackles. Without Dontari Poe to plug things up in the middle, Washington went wild running the ball. Vernon Butler and Gerald McCoy were also banged up at different points in the game, which only made things worse. Washington totaled a season high in rushing yards with 248 and scored three touchdowns.
Luke Kuechly returned to form
One of only a few bright spots for the Panthers defense was the play of middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, who has had an uncharacteristically off year. Kuechly returned to form against the Redskins, making several key stops, including two pass breakups. Kuechly also passed 100 tackles for the season – making this is eighth consecutive year doing so.
