Written by Master Tesfatsion at Washington Post.com
The Washington Redskins entered Monday night’s game with an opportunity totake command of the sixth playoff position in the NFC with a victory over the Carolina Panthers. The Redskins exited FedEx Field with their heads hanging, authoring 60 disappointing minutes of football that rendered moot whatever help Sunday’s results provided them.
Washington fell flat in all three phases of the 26-15 loss to the Carolina Panthers, a defeat that severely jeopardized its postseason chances. It entered the game as the sixth seed following the Dallas Cowboys’ victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night. Washington (7-6-1) needed a win to maintain its lead over the Bucs (8-6) and the Green Bay Packers (8-6). Instead, it dropped to eighth in the NFC playoff picture and is now in need of some help during the final two weeks to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
“We’re disappointed, it’s no question,” Redskins Coach Jay Gruden said. “First of all, we were outcoached today. There’s no question about that, and they played better than us, so you’ve got to give credit to the Carolina Panthers. It’s my responsibility to get these guys ready to play, and we didn’t execute like I would’ve liked to have seen. That falls on my shoulders.”
The Redskins came out flat in the first half, like they have in their three previous games, and they weren’t able to get anything going on either side of the ball. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was inaccurate. Washington’s offense couldn’t run the football. Its defense couldn’t stop the run, quarterback Cam Newton or any Panthers player with possession of the ball. Carolina became the fourth straight opponent to take a first-quarter lead on Washington and accumulated 438 total yards, averaging an efficient 6.1 yards on 72 plays.
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