The Panthers go on the road for the first time since Week 2 to face a Washington offense that couldn’t find its bearings against the Saints on Monday night.
The Panthers defense has been bad this season. Real bad. After getting gashed repeatedly by the high powered offenses of the Falcons and Bengals, a visit from an anemic Giants offense after a Panthers bye week seemed like the perfect elixir to heal the Panthers ailing defense. That didn’t happen.
Instead, the Panthers put forth their worst defensive performance of the season. The 8.0 yards per play the Panthers allowed is the eighth most allowed by any team in the NFL this season and the most allowed by the Panthers since the Julio Jones 300 yard game in 2016. Regardless, the Panthers were able to pull out a win and thus head to Washington with a 3-1 record.
Washington’s offense is no high octane unit in its own right and, despite its higher ranking, it doesn’t boast nearly the same star power as the Giants offense. Average quarterback incarnate Alex Smith commandeers the unit with geriatric (and injured) Adrian Peterson in the backfield and a cast of extremely average wide receivers. In all, those ingredients have combined to put Washington’s offense right where you’d expect- 21st in yards and 24th in points.
Before we get to the keys, I have two nuggets of optimism for the Panthers defense this Sunday. One, Washington only mustered 19 points and 283 yards against a Saints defense that had allowed an average of 30.3 points and 390.5 yards through its first four games. Two, Washington’s entire fleet of skill position players is on the injury report, except for oft injured tight end Jordan Reed. How ironic. All of them are listed as questionable, but top two wide receivers Jamison Crowder and Paul Richardson were listed as nonparticipants in Wednesday’s practice, so it’s fair to postulate that they won’t be at full speed.
Now for the keys to the game:
- Limit the yards after catch in the middle of the field. Washington’s top two pass catchers thus far are running back Chris Thompson and tight end Jordan Reed. Even Adrian Peterson, never known for his pass catching ability, is fourth on the team in receiving yardage. Without the offensive wizardry of Andy Reid behind him, Alex Smith has reverted to the Alex Smith we’re used to, focusing primarily on the short area of the field in the passing game. The Panthers need to come up and make tackles in the short passing game, or they’ll have a hard time getting off the field.
- No stupid penalties on third downs. One out of every eight Washington first downs has come via a defensive penalty, the fifth highest rate in the league. Washington is 21st in third down conversion percentage, so the Panthers defense should be able to get off the field more often than not if they play clean defense.
- Disrupt the timing of the passing game. More and more often we’re seeing teams go utilize the short passing game, especially against teams like the Panthers. So far this season, the Panthers have generated little pass rush and done little on the back end to disrupt wide receiver routes. It’s resulted in opposing passers completing 67.1% of their attempts for 8.4 yards per attempt. The Panthers need to adjust.
On paper, this is another chance for the Panthers defense to find their rhythm and turn into the above average unit many thought they’d be coming into this season. Early indicators are that this defense is bad, so the match-up may mean nothing. We could be looking at another game with a point total in the 50’s this weekend.
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