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.

As Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III get ready to face off for the first time, some people are still stuck in the ’50s and ’60s and want to assign the issue of race to everything.

Warren Moon, the former NFL quarterback, and some national media types blame racism for the recent criticism of Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton. Meanwhile, the Washington Post glorifies Griffin’s race as the new leader of the Washington Redskins.

When someone with Newton’s talent performs poorly and acts childish and surly, he’s not going to endear himself to fans regardless of his color. If anything, being black shields him from criticism because of white guilt, political correctness and the fact that many white people, probably due in part to their own athletic inabilities, think black players are better athletes.

On the other hand, race is viewed positively by Washington Post writer Dave Sheinin who writes:

“Someday, you knew he would finally arrive, right? The One: an athlete so brilliant, so likable, so rooted over time in the region’s culture, he would lift the entire community. A transcendent figure — less a messiah than a soulmate for the populace — who would be more than this city’s champion, but its face. Theoretically, it could have been anyone, but realistically, in this city, it could only be this: an electrifying, young African American quarterback for the Redskins.”

Huh? Only a black quarterback could satisfy Redskins nation? He says this in part, I suppose, because Washington, D.C. has been called “The Chocolate City” due to the large number of black residents. First of all, a large portion of Redskins nation is not black, most in fact. Second, do people only root for others of their own race? Are black people ditching the Colts in Indianapolis because they picked Andrew Luck rather than Griffin? Do white people not attend the NBA Wizards’ games anymore because the team consists of all black players? Are the stands of either the Redskins or Wizards occupied primarily by black people?

The issue of race has become tiresome – from the black quarterback issue to the names of sports teams (like the Redskins).

To their credit, both Newton and Griffin dispute the race angle.

A few days ago, Newton said, “I haven’t heard (Moon’s) remarks, but when it comes to race and this game, I don’t think there is none at all.” There may be an issue of grammar however.

While acknowledging that others may view him a certain way because of his race, Griffin says, “My parents raised me to not ever look at race or color so it doesn’t have a big part in my self-identity.”

Amen.

Either drop the race issue or pressure the NFL to hire more white cornerbacks (there hasn’t been one in the NFL in 10 years) and criticize people as racist for not following sports because of the lack of players of their particular race. Where are all the minority hockey fans?

Drop it already.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Editor’s Note – To read the very, very long Washington Post piece on Griffin and race, please click here.

The Panthers defeated the Saints 35-27 while the Redskins fell short at the Rams 31-28. Both teams are 1-1.

Here are some thoughts on the games:

– After a dismal running game in the season-opening loss to Tampa Bay (barely double digit yards), the Panthers piled up 219 against the Saints. Cam Newton carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, DeAngelo Williams ran for 69 yards and a score on 14 rushes and Jonathan Stewart, who missed the opener with a right ankle injury, added 51 yards rushing.

– The Redskins were without top receiver Pierre Garcon, who was injured during the opening season win over the Saints. As a result, Aldrick Robinson started in his place. In the third quarter, Robinson was open deep and Robert Griffin III put the ball in his hands and he dropped it. It should have been easy completion. That would have set the Skins up for a touchdown or at least a short field goal.

– Brian Stropolo is a New Orleans Saints fan. Unfortunately, he was also a replacement official scheduled to be a side judge for the Panthers-Saints game. He didn’t step aside. No, the NFL found pictures of him wearing Saints gear just hours before the game, thanks to ESPN. He was replaced by Tim Keese, who was an alternate on the crew. Just another reason why the NFL needs to get the regular refs back, although they sometimes aren’t the best in the world either. I’m sure officials have favorite players and grew up rooting for certain teams but most can be objective. I suppose Stropolo thought he could too but his rooting interest is recent – plus, he’s a replacement official.

– The officiating was worse for the Redskins-Rams than it was for the Panthers-Saints. There are really too many problems to go into all of them here. But to name a few, London Fletcher was called for a late hit out of bounds when the ball carrier was in the air going out of bounds but he wasn’t out of bounds yet. I’m not sure how someone can stop the tackling motion in mid-air but these refs expected him to. There was a play in the end zone where it looked as if Stephen Jackson got two feet in but he was called out. Once Griffin was hit as he was going out of bounds and the player was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. But then several more times during the game, both ways, on more obvious calls, late hits weren’t called.

– The Saints have trouble with mobile quarterbacks that use screens and options. Both against Griffin and Newton, they had a lot of trouble.

– It’s good to see Griffin run to escape trouble and it’s even good to occasionally give him the option to run but the designed running plays didn’t seem to work as well and they put him in danger. He took a number of hard hits against the Rams, in a particularly hard-hitting games that the referees let get out of control. You don’t want your franchise quarterback to get hurt before he’s even the franchise quarterback. It’s his second game for goodness sake, save him.

– Finally, Joshua Morgan should be cut from the Redskins. It’s hard to sugar coat what he did. First, very late in the game, with the Redskins driving for a winning touchdown or tying field goal, he had an easy first down and turned back to lose yardage. Then, seconds later, he throws the ball at the defender. INEXCUSABLE. No matter what he ever does for the Redskins in the future, he will be remembered for that. If he had gotten the first down, the Redskins would have had plenty of time to have won the game. If he had not thrown the ball at the defender, the Redskins would have at least gone into overtime. Seriously, he should be off the team. The Redskins don’t need that kind of player. The Skins have been thinking of bringing back tight end/fullback Chris Cooley. Now would be a good time for that.

With the regular season starting this week, a review of the NFL power ratings for 2012 shows that the Carolina Panthers are just ahead of the Washington Redskins. Eight of the top ratings average the Panthers as the 19th best team in the league while the Redskins average out as the 23rd best team.

The two teams play each other in Week 9 in a game that might determine which finishes higher in the power ratings. Neither team is expected to contend for any titles but the Panthers are a trendy pick to improve. That will depend on Cam Newton’s health and whether a year of film allows defenses to catch up with Newton.

The Redskins, with new rookie QB Robert Griffin III, will probably end the season at 7-9 or 8-8 while the Panthers, who have a slightly tougher schedule, will probably be no better. The matchup between the two will probably determine which team ends at .500 on the season. If the Panthers can get an upset on the road, maybe against the Falcons or the Saints, they could improve to 9-7 and be in the discussion for a wild card berth.