Week 7 Recap – Carolina Panthers at Washington Commanders
Commanders Rout Panthers 40-7 Despite Daniels Injury
October 21, 2024
By Noonefromtampa
First Quarter
Washington won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. After a holding call on the kickoff return, Carolina was backed up up to their own 14 yard line, but they quickly picked up a first down in two plays. Andy Dalton threw to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for 7 yards and Chuba Hubbard ran for 4 yards to pick up the first down. Miles Sanders ran around left end on a jet sweep for 26 yards. Two plays later, Dalton found Diontae Johnson for 17 yards on a deep comeback route. With the ball on Washington’s 26, the Commanders’ defense helped the Panthers to an incompletion and a 1 yard gain. On third and nine, Dalton tried to hit Miles Sanders on a screen but Dante Fowler intercepted it and returned it for a 67 yard touchdown. Austin Seibert converted the extra point giving Washington a 7-0 lead.
Washington’s defense came back strong, holding the Panthers to 6 yards on three plays, forcing a punt. Olamide Zaccheaus fair caught the punt at the Washington 10 yard line.
On Washington’s first offensive play, Jayden Daniels ran for 46 yards on an option around right end. Austin Ekeler then ran for 5 yards, but a false start on Tyler Biadasz backed them up 5 yards. Jeremy McNichols ran for 9 yards and Brian Robinson picked up the first down with a 3 yard run. Robinson and Daniels gained another 24 yards rushing on the next three plays to put the ball at the Carolina 8 yard line. The drive stalled there and only netted three additional yards. Seibert kicked the 23 yard field goal for 10-0 lead. Daniels injured his ribs on one of his runs and was taken to the locker room for x-rays.
After Dalton completed a 10 yard pass to Jalen Coker, Emmanuel Forbes intercepted Dalton and returned it 20 yards. An illegal block penalty on the return backed Washington up 10 yards. Marcus Mariota came in at quarterback was unable to move the team. He overthrew a wide-open Dyami Brown on a third down deep crossing route.
Second Quarter
After Tress Way‘s punt, Carolina started at their own 11 yard line. Hubbard picked up 5 yards on two carries, but Dalton was sacked on third down by Frankie Luvu for a 4 yard loss.
Zaccheaus was able to return the punt 15 yards to the Washington 41 yard line. Washington was able to score another touchdown with 4 runs by Robinson for 30 yards and a 29 yard pass interference penalty by Chau Smith-Wade against Noah Brown. After the Robinson score, Seibert kicked the extra point to give Washington a 17-0 lead.
After the kickoff, Carolina was able to pick up one first down and 12 yards. The Panthers gained 9 more yards out to their own 40 but were unable to convert on fourth down with a tackle-for-loss by Fowler.
Washington’s subsequent drive stalled out on a holding penalty by Andrew Wylie and the had to settle for a 49 yard Seibert field goal for a 20-0 lead.
After the kickoff return, Dalton hit a wide-open J. Sanders for 16 yards. After that, Washington’s defense held them to two yards and forced a punt.
On Washington’s next drive, which started at their own 8 yard line, Robinson ran for 3 yards up the middle which led to the two-minute warning. After Mariota ran for 4 yards, Washington picked up a first down on a neutral zone infraction. Mariota got hot after a defensive holding penalty gave Washington another first down. He hit passes of 7 yards to Zach Ertz, 18 yards and 15 yards to Terry McLaurin. With time running down, after an incompletion, he hit Dyami Brown for 23 yards, then followed that with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Ertz.
After the kickoff, the Panthers took a knee to end the half.
Third Quarter
Ekeler returned the kickoff 34 yards to the Washington 41 yard line to start the second half. Mariota ran twice for a total of 12 yards and a first down. After a penalty for ineligible downfield pass and a no gain screen, Mariota hit McLaurin for a 19 yard catch and McLaurin broke the tackle to pick up the first down. Ertz caught a 15 yard pass down to the Carolina 18 yard line. Robinson carried twice for 5 yards and Zaccheaus caught a pass for 7 yards and a first down at the Carolina 6 yard line. Ekeler ran for three yards and then Ben Sinnott caught his first NFL pass and touchdown from the 3. Seibert converted the extra point giving the Commanders a 34-0 lead.
On the kickoff, Jeremy Reaves put a hard hit on the returner, Raheem Blackshear, causing a fumble, but Carolina recovered the ball. Dalton could only manage a sack, one short completion, and an incompletion, leading to another punt. Zaccheaus fair caught the punt at the Washington 32 yard line.
On Washington’s next drive, Robinson and Mariota first combined for 11 yards and a first down. Then, Mariota hit McLaurin for 18 yards. A holding penalty on the next play cost Washington 10 yards, but after two short gains, converted the third and nine with a 16-yard pass to Noah Brown. After gaining 8 yards, the Commanders had a false start and came up 1 yard short on the third down Ertz reception. Seibert kicked a 31 yard field goal to give Washington a 37-0 lead.
After the touchback on the kickoff, Hubbard gained 9 yards and Xavier Legette picked up 6 yards on a jet sweep for the first down.
Fourth Quarter
Three plays later, on third and one, Dalton hit an open J. Sanders for 29 yards. Hubbard picked up 9 yards but a screen to Legette lost three yards. After M. Sanders picked up the first down with a 7 yard run, Hubbard rushed for the four-yard touchdown. Eddy Pineiro kicked the extra point making the score 37-7.
On their following drive, Washington started running the ball to take time off the clock. McNichols ran for 5 yards and Mariota scrambled for 6 yards on third down. Three plays later, on third and seven, a scrambling Mariota found McLaurin for 25 yards to the Carolina 30 yard line. Washington was able to move the ball down inside the Carolina 10 yard line, but the drive stalled at that point. Seibert kicked a 29 yard field goal for the 40-7 lead.
Bryce Young replaced Dalton on the Panther’s next drive. He completed two passes, one for two yards, but the other lost six yards on a great tackle by Nick Bellore. The drive ended with a three and out with another punt.
McNichols ran for 7 yards before the two-minute warning. After the timeout McNichols ran up the middle for 10 yards and the first down. The team then went into victory formation to run out the clock.
Thoughts
Hopefully Jayden Daniels is not seriously hurt – he was walking the sideline and engaging with the fans, which is good.
Marcus Mariota started slowly but got into a rhythm, connecting with receivers and dicing up the Panthers secondary. It was a good experience for him and the team to show they can play with him at the helm and be successful. He stats: 18/23 for 205 yards 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a 132.8 quarterback rating.
The Panthers are really bad and probably will be so again next year.
This was the fourth time the team has scored 34 or more points, and they’ve won all four of those games.
Washington ran for 214 yards and held the Carolina offense to 180 yards and one score.
Dante Fowler had an impactful game with a pick 6 interception and a sack.