3 winners and 3 losers from Panthers loss to Washington in Week 11
By Jason Huber
Carolina Panthers run defense
Overall, the Carolina Panthers have been a solid run defense this season. Entering the game, they were ranked 12th in the league against the run and have been feared by most opponents this year.
They had only given up 107 yards per game on the ground on average.
However, there were some hiccup games, including an awful one against the Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott a few weeks ago. On Sunday, Carolina looked like a bad defensive team again, in large part due to being unable to stop the run.
Washington used multiple weapons to run the ball, led by Antonio Gibson, and finished the game with 190 rushing yards.
Gibson, J.D. McKissic, Taylor Heinicke, and Jaret Patterson all had runs of 10 or more yards for Washington. They only averaged 4.8 yards per carry – making the total number even worse because of the number of meaningful runs that Carolina allowed.
In addition, the Panthers allowed Washington to go 2-for-2 on fourth down conversions and 6-of-13 on third down. Not exactly a recipe for success and a stark contrast to how Phil Snow’s defense has performed for the majority of this season.
Again, this might just be a blip. But the Panthers are running out of games to secure a postseason berth.