First Glance at the Washington Football Team

An early preview of the Panthers' week 16 matchup

The Carolina Panthers will travel to the nation's capital this Sunday to take on the Washington Football Team. Washington comes into this game with a 6-8 record, yet sits at the top of the NFC East standings with just two games remaining. Here's an early-week look at the Panthers' Week 16 opponent.

Washington Offense

The Football Team has had its fair share of offensive struggles this season. They've had a rotating door at quarterback due to poor play from Dwayne Haskins and injuries to Kyle Allen and Alex Smith. Their running game has not been very productive, rushing for exactly 100 yards per game. The biggest issue with Washington's run game is that they lack explosive plays, similar to the Panthers. Washington has only six runs of 20 or more yards on the season, which doesn't bode well for an offense that has issues at the quarterback position.

The biggest contributing factor to the Football Team's anemic offensive output is the offensive line. They struggle in pass protection by allowing 3.1 sacks per game, ranking 29th in the league. Carolina's defense is starting to finally figure out how to generate pressure on the quarterback and should be able to pick up right where they left off after last week's five sack performance. 

Running back Antonio Gibson has big playmaking ability but has been nursing a toe injury and his status for this week's game remains unknown. If he is unable to go, the Football Team will turn to J.D. McKissic and Peyton Barber who have combined for 588 yards and five touchdowns on 168 carries. 

The Panthers' biggest concern heading into this game regardless of who is under center for Washington is wide receiver Terry McLaurin. He has caught 80 passes for 1,078 yards on the season and can absolutely fly. If Haskins gets the starting nod as expected, don't be surprised to see them take shots down the field to McLaurin. Haskins loves taking chances with the deep ball and also has chemistry with McLaurin having played college ball at Ohio State together. 

Washington Defense

The reason Washington has won six games and is atop the NFC East standings? Their defense. They ranked 4th in total defense and a lot of that has to do with how well they defend in coverage. Washington allows just 200.2 passing yards per game and has 13 interceptions on the year. Defensive backs Kendall Fuller, Ronald Darby, and Kamren Curl have played extremely well and will pose a tough matchup for guys like DJ Moore and Robby Anderson. QB Teddy Bridgewater is going to have to be efficient in the intermediate and underneath passing game because he's not going to get much of the deep ball variety in this one.

The thing I admire most about Washington's defense is their front seven, which honestly could be the best front seven in the entire leauge. They get after the quarterback, create negative plays, and make it extremely difficult to run the football. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat, and Chase Young have combined for 16.5 sacks on the season. This will be a very tough challenge for the Panthers offensive line that has been struggling all season long.

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