Game Recap: Redskins down the Panthers 23-17
October 14, 2018
by Steve Thomas
The Washington Redskins, who have become masters of the flip from bad to good in 2018 thusfar, earned a solid victory over the Carolina Panthers today by a score of 23-17. Perhaps in recognition of their awful performance last week, the Redskins exhibited both a seriousness of attitude and a higher level of execution against an opponent that refused to quit despite being down by a significant amount as late as the fourth quarter. In the end, the Redskins prevailed and maintained their slender, bye week-generated half game lead in the NFC East. It was a much-needed quality victory over a good team as Washington heads into Dallas week.
The Redskins began the game in magnificent fashion, holding the Panthers to one first down before having to punt. On the punt, though, Washington struck gold as linebacker Shawn Dion-Hamilton stripped the ball from the punt returner, which the Redskins recovered on the Panthers’ 22 yard line. Alex Smith connected with tight end Vernon Davis on the very next play to put the Redskins up by a score of 7 – 0 early. Washington continued to dominate after that, once again holding Carolina to another 3 and out before driving 64 yards in 12 plays to get another touchdown on a Smith – Paul Richardson, Jr. connection from the Carolina two yard line. The quarter ended with Washington up 14 – 0.
Things continued to go well for the home team in the second quarter, with corner Josh Norman, who had a quality overall performance today, getting his first interception of the year on the second play of the quarter. The Redskins could not capitalize on Norman’s efforts, though, and went three and out. Just two plays into Carolina’s next drive, however, Norman created a fumble by stripping DJ Moore, with Mason Foster gaining control of the ball. At that point, Washington offense continued its solid day on the ground and was able to tack on another 3 points thanks to a Dustin Hopkins 49 yard field goal. The Panthers then managed to put together a 7 play, 75 yard touchdown drive capped by a Cam Newton 29 yard pass to Devin Funchess. The teams went into the locker room with the score 17-6 after Panthers’ kicker Graham Gano missed the extra point.
At the half, running back Adrian Peterson had 56 yards on 9 carries and Smith was 10 for 20 for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns, with a 97.1 quarterback rating.
The Redskins saw their play slow down in the third quarter and the offense accomplished little, having only 2 possessions and adding nothing to the scoreboard. The Redskins started the first half with a nine play possession that ended with a turnover on downs when Washington gambled on a pass to Jordan Reed that went incomplete on 4th down, with four yards to go from the Carolina 38 yard line. The Panthers responded with long 11 play drive, this time 47 yards, but were only to come away from their effort with a field goal. The quarter ended with the score 17-9 and the Redskins driving into Carolina territory.
The fourth quarter began with Redskins kicker Dustin Hopkins making a career-long 56 yard field goal to extend the lead to 20 – 9. Carolina, refusing to go quietly, responded with their best drive of the day, going 75 yards in just 9 plays, highlighted by a 3 yard Cam Newton touchdown pass to Torrey Smith and a successful 2 point conversion to close the gap to 20 – 17. Washington rose to the challenge on their final substantive drive of the day with Hopkins’ third field goal of the day, this one 29 yards, to make the score 23-17. Carolina, having a clock problem with less than three minutes of game time left, was able to drive down the field to the Redskins’ 16 yard line. At that point, the Panthers faced a 4th and 5 after three straight incomplete passes to the end zone, but were unable to convert the first down after an incomplete Newton pass right. The Redskins ended the game in the victory formation.
Redskins running back Adrian Peterson, who continues to defy father time, dominated this game, gaining 97 yards on just 17 carries for an average of 5.7 yards per carry, but had 15 more yards erased by a Morgan Moses holding call early in the fourth quarter. Alex Smith did not have his most efficient game, but was far more effective than last week, going 21 for 36 for just 163 yards, but had 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Smith spread the ball around well today, with 10 different players targeted. Another ageless wonder, Davis, was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. The wide receiver group as a whole had their best game of the year, with Paul Richardson, Josh Doctson, Maurice Harris, and Brian Quick all getting receptions. Star tight end Jordan Reed had 5 receptions on 9 targets for 36 yards. D.J. Swearinger was the leading tackler with 7 on the day, including 4 solo.
On the Panthers side, Cam Newton was 27 for 40 for 275 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Carolina’s lead running back, Christian McCaffrey, had just 8 carries for 20 yards, although he added another 7 receptions for 4 yards. Devin Funchess led both teams in receptions, with 5 catches for 74 yards.
Head coach Jay Gruden made note of the strong run game in his postgame comments, stating, “We spread them out a little bit. It wasn’t the tight, condensed, power-type plays, it was more spread out, get [Luke] Kuechly and get them out in space a little bit more and run away from him and get our linemen up on safeties and try and do a good job and not let our running backs cut the defense. We had a couple good hits in that regard. We had some down pull plays that were pretty good. We put in a lineman and pulled our linemen, [Brandon] Scherff was unbelievable at that so we had some good hits. Our backs were very good at that and Adrian [Peterson], I can’t say enough about what he did today, playing through the pain of the shoulder and the knee. What a pro, I mean what a pro he is.”
Gruden also acknowledged the struggles of the offensive line in pass protection, given that Alex Smith was sacked three times today, providing, “[T]hey’ll get better. And they’re pretty good. It’s some of the stunts that hurt us a little bit. But we’ll get those corrected. And those mainly came on third and longs or, you have two-minute known passing situations. They hurt us a little bit.”
For his part, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera praised Washington’s performance, telling the assembled media, “I thought they just played a steady game. I don’t think there was anything surprising. They are a good football team. They run the ball extremely well with Adrian [Peterson]. They did a good job of mixing their play calling in. You really couldn’t get a beat on them. You have to give them credit. The things they did. They took advantage of our own mistakes and that’s why they won the football game.”
Paid attendance at Fed Ex Field today was 60,594. The 3-3 Dallas Cowboys are up next, coming into Fed Ex Field next Sunday afternoon for the Redskins’ first division game of the season.