After the Carolina Panthers defeated the Redskins for only their second win of the season, the Charlotte team has dragged the Skins down with them.
Now both teams, with strong fan bases in the Triangle area, are in disarray.
The Panthers fired its general manager a couple of weeks ago and criticism has been heaped on Cam Newton and Coach Ron Rivera. Now, Redskins fans and sports radio announcers are calling for the heads of Coach Mike Shanahan, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett.
In addition, the Redskins players themselves seem to be turning on Shanahan, who implied that he has given up on this season after the disppointing 21-13 loss which dropped the Skins to 3-6.
“Now you’re playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come. Now we get a chance to evaluate players and see where we’re at,” Shanahan said. “Obviously, we’re not out of it statistically, but now we find out what type of character we’ve got and how guys keep on fighting through the rest of the season.”
Several unnamed players spoke out against the comments. But one went on the record. “You have a lot of guys that want to win now, people toward the end of their careers who have been here a long time, haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time,” Lorenzo Alexander said. “Bein’ 3-6 really [stinks] because right now we’re on the outside looking in. I’m not thinkin’ about next year. That’s an offseason thing for me. But you know it’s hard when you see yourself in that type of position and your head coach is saying those types of things. It’s disappointing.”
The Redskins appeared ready to play the Panthers and did win the war between the 20s but suspect play calling by coaches and ineffective execution by players failed to get the Skins in the end zone until late in the game.
An unimaginative fourth and one play at the goal line where QB Robert Griffin III took the snap and just ran to the right failed and seemed to turn the tide toward the Panthers, who had a swarming defense and a big play offense.
The Redskins secondary has been suspect all season and a couple of big pass plays from Newton was all the Panthers needed to beat the inept Redskins defense, who are also suffering from the lack of a pass rush due in part to injuries to Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker.
Meanwhile the Panthers have a reprieve from the onslaught of criticism. But it probably won’t last long as the 2-6 Panthers host the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos next week and will probably only be favored once or twice the rest of the season.
It’s even worse for the Redskins, who have a bye this weekend but then will be underdogs in its next four games in a row – against the Eagles, Giants, Cowboys and Ravens.
Griffin, the new Messiah in Washington, is about the only piece of the Redskins puzzle that has remained unscathed. But he has been unimpressive the last two weeks and has nagging injuries including sore ribs he suffered in the first quarter against the Panthers.
He is more likable than Newton, and most all quarterbacks in the league, and he has a great upside but for all his excitement, it hasn’t translated to wins yet. With the Redskins in at least as much disarray as the Panthers, they may not improve on last year’s 5-11 record.
Shanahan needs to clarify his statements and use the bye week to energize this team. Meanwhile, should the Panthers use its new-found confidence to defeat the Broncos, it could give them hope for the future and excite their local fan base.
Just three weeks ago, it looked like the Redskins had taken back the mantle of interest in the Triangle area. A disappointing loss to the Panthers has changed that and has to be a kick in the teeth to Redskins fans who live and grew up in North Carolina. A seemingly inferior team, which displaced the Redskins from being the “home” team in our area, defeated their beloved Redskins.
If there were one game on the schedule that area Redskins fans wanted, it was this one.