WASHINGTON — With three weeks left in the season, the Redskins don’t have much wiggle room if they want a chance at a return trip to the playoffs.
A prime-time matchup that was circled on the calendar from the day the schedule came out is upon us Monday night. The Redskins face the Panthers hoping to keep pace in the NFC Wild Card race and looking to avenge a 44-16 loss from a year ago. All that being said, the marquee matchup of the night will be Josh Norman vs. Cam Newton and his former team.
Norman doesn’t mind if Newton decides to challenge him early.
“I hope so,” Norman said. “Cam the coach will tell him no. Cam the competitor, yes. So I’m looking for that guy. Just like practice.”
The big key is going to be for Norman not to let himself get too amped up and stay focused on the task at hand.
While Newton isn’t having his best season, he’s been perfect against the Redskins throughout his career. He hasn’t lost and has thrown seven touchdowns, including five in last year’s rout, with no interceptions. These numbers don’t bode well for a Redskins defense that has had issues all season, especially getting off the field on third down.
Washington is allowing 48 percent third-down conversion rate. That’s an astounding number. The Eagles converted nearly 50 percent of third downs and two fourth downs last week. If that doesn’t change, then there’s a good chance the ‘Skins are home watching the playoffs.
While the overall numbers are bad, keep in mind the defense has made plays at the end of games this year to preserve wins. They did it last week against the Eagles when Ryan Kerrigan forced a fumble. They also sealed wins against the Ravens, Vikings and Packers. This unit is going to have to be solid down the stretch, force turnovers and do its best to support the offense.
One other thing to watch for on Monday is that Will Compton will most likely be out this week and Martrell Spaight will get the start at inside linebacker. He played well in relief last week against Philadelphia.
The Redskins’ offense enters the week number two in the league with 412 yards per game. The offensive line will most likely be back intact this week with the return of Shaun Lauvao and Spencer Long. Jordan Reed is still dealing with the slight separation of his shoulder and could be a part of the game plan a bit more this week as well.
All of this going against two rookie cornerbacks for the Panthers should equal a pretty good day for Kirk Cousins and the Redskins’ offense. Cousins won’t have to do much to have a historic night — he’s just 122 yards shy of the all-time single-season franchise record he set last year.
A lot of things can happen over the final three weeks of the regular season. The Redskins can make it easy by just winning football games, but if they don’t take advantage of their opportunities, they will need to rely on others and could find themselves home in January. Either way, it’s fun to be talking about meaningful games in the final month for a second straight December.
