Panthers Outplay Redskins, Win 33-20

Of all of the issues the Redskins have had this season, one of them wasn’t the Defense.  But if Sunday was the first time that you had a chance to watch the Redskins, you would not have know that the Redskins had one of the best Defense's in the league.  Because, Cam Newton made their Defense look like the Kentucky Wildcats.  Washington has lost two straight and now have to do damage control before the find themselves below .500 and looking for answers.  But in the meantime, how about the Rookie from Auburn?

Cam Newton was a lightening rod of sorts when he was coming out of school.  First the experts said that he was only a one year starter and was overhyped.  Second, Newton didn’t show good Pocket Presence.  Third, it was Newton only played in the Shotgun so he may not know how to do a 3-, 5- or a 7-step drop.  Fourth, people said that he wasn’t accurate and “they” didn’t know if he could make all of the throws. And lastly, there was the entire NCAA scandal that he was eventually cleared of doing anything wrong.  And that was before he was drafted.  After Newton was drafted there were concerns of him adjusting to the speed of the NFL, picking up the play book and then establishing  himself as a starter.  Well seven weeks, and about four 300-yard passing games later, Newton has surpassed everyone’s expectation.  And it wasn’t more evident than his performance against Washington Sunday, when he complete 18 of 23 passing attempts, 285 yards, and 1 TD pass.  He also ran 10 times for 61 yards and a TD.  Hell one time my man broke out the Option Run.  He and Steve Smith put on a passing clinic in Charlotte.  If you are a football fan, you loved what you saw from Newton.  He is playing well beyond his years (or year for that matter).  He has a solid running game and a good Offensive Line.  If he can stay healthy, the Panther will make a push for the playoffs some time in the near future.  Dare I say, next season even.

But as one teams prognosis looks good, the other teams, namely Washingtons, prognosis looks grim.  The Redskins have already lost Trent Williams for a few weeks, Chris Cooley and Corey Lichtenstieger to either possible season-ending or season ending injuries respectively, but now London Fletcher, Santana Moss and Tim Hightower go down.  And if you couple that with the fact that Washington just changed QBs, we might be staring down the barrel of high draft pick next year, again.  I don’t think we are in the “Suck For Luck” race, but if we don’t get it together, we will be.  And that will be bad for Andrew Luck because, I love my team, but we don’t handle QBs well.  Just ask Jason Campbell, Patrick Ramsey, Chase Daniel and Donovan McNabb.  Luck should probably be praying that he does not come to Washington.  People say Dallas is America’s team, but the second most important person in DC is the starting QB for the Washington Redskins.  And with our history of dropping the ball on QB development, that man will be run out of football before his Rookie contract expires.

As fate would have it, Washington is starting to play like the “experts” (and I use that term loosely) expected them to play.  But with so many injuries, I can’t really say that I am surprised.  Either way, the Redskins are 3-3 and have 10 games left to leave an indelible mark on this season.

This weeks game ball goes to the Rookie QB from Carolina, Cam Newton, the icon and role model.  People made fun of him for saying it, but did he live up to the hype?