Carolina Panthers have shades of Washington Football Team

When the Washington Football Team faces off with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, they will be taking on a team that is on a similar trajectory, but just a year behind.

After being fired by the Carolina Panthers following nine years with the organization, Ron Rivera has not only turned around the culture in his first year in Washington but has also given this fanbase hope of just how good this franchise can become.

The franchise he left behind, despite being 4-10, seems to be pretty similar to Washington in its makeup, despite not seeing the same results.

"“You know they’re a young football team. They mimic us a lot in terms of that,” said Rivera.“They play a lot of young guys especially on the defensive side. Offensively, we got to be able to take advantage of their inexperience.Defensively, we’ve got to be able to contain the running game, they run the ball pretty well. I like their combination of wide receivers. Two of them are guys we had drafted and I know both those guys really well, and I think they’re a heck of a combination of football players.”"

In terms of age, Carolina and Washington entered the season with the 13th and 14th youngest roster, respectively. Both the teams also have first-year head coaches that are trying to instill their culture in the respective franchises.

On the defensive side of the ball, six of Carolina’s starters have three years of experience or less in the NFL, which is the same as Washington. Carolina’s rookie safety, Jeremy Chinn has made a major impact on the Panthers’ defense and is competing with Washington’s Chase Young for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

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Over the last three games, Carolina and Washington have both given up relatively similar passing yards per game on defense (218.7 vs. 220.7).

Over that same span, Carolina has given up the 11th most rushing yards per game, which Washington can take advantage of, especially if Antonio Gibson returns.

Carolina is also susceptible when targeting tight ends, which Washington should be able to leverage with Logan Thomas, especially if Dwayne Haskins gets the start.

Like Washington, Carolina has been missing a key contributor on offense in Christian McCaffrey, who has missed six straight games and 12 games this season. It is looking more and more likely that he will miss Sunday’s game, which is a major boon for the Washington defense.

In the three games that McCaffrey played this season, he scored six total touchdowns (five rushing, one receiving). Washington knows all too well what missing a swiss-army knife weapon like McCaffrey means, as Gibson has often been compared with the former.

Mike Davis has filled in for McCaffrey and although he lacks the same playmaking ability, he has provided value for the Panthers, similar to J.D. McKissic for Washington.

The one area where Washington’s defense may have a challenge is with the wide receiving combination that Rivera mentioned. D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel were both drafted while Rivera was with the Panthers and both offer big-play ability. Add in Robby Anderson, who along with Moore, has a 1,000+ receiving yard season, and the DBs and safeties for Washington will have their hands full.

But in spite of the similarities between the rosters, Washington was able to get over the early humps to become a playoff contender, which is something that Carolina is still figuring out.

Carolina has lost 8 of its 10 games by one possession or less and has been able to keep up with some of the league’s top teams, losing by three to the New Orleans Saints and by two to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Before its four-game winning streak, Washington had three losses by three points or less, in the span of four games, including a one-point and three-point loss to the Giants and a three-point loss to the Lions.

"We’re in the same boat. If you go back and look at that little stretch we had, started from week 5, we were in the same boat. We lost several of those games by a score or less. And that, to me, is where you see the growth in young teams, is that they keep the scores close, they play hard to the end, and that’s what we have to focus on."

While Washington’s path has gone one way, with its four-game winning streak, and Carolina’s has gone the other way, losing eight of its last nine, Coach Rivera understands that the Panthers will still provide a challenge.

"This team is not going to roll over, I’ll promise you that much. All you got to do is watch the tape, and you’ll see it. They’ve had some heartbreaking losses, but that’s going to serve them as well next year, just like this is serving us well next year.And that’s learning how to play in these games. And eventually when they learn to win, what you’ll do, you’ll talk about a four-game win streak, and that’s kind of what’s happened for us, you know, we’ve gotten to the point where we’ve figured out that through our resilience, we can win."

Regardless of if Washington wins this game and makes the playoffs, Rivera is grateful because this season will be a growing experience for his young team and it will allow the players a chance to see what it feels like to fight for a playoff spot.

But after struggling through a 2-7 start to get to the point the team is now, Rivera hopes the outcome ends in Washington’s favor, with the team earning a postseason berth

Not only would making the postseason show that the team’s culture is changing and prove that Rivera’s faith in the players was warranted, but it would also give this fanbase some much-needed hope in terms of the trajectory of this franchise.

"“It’d mean a lot just because, you know, trying to get the guys to understand that looking at where we were and believing we had a shot, which I do. I mean I believe we could make some noise, I really do,” said Rivera.“I like the personnel we have. A lot of these guys have learned and grown into what we do. A lot of them are buying in and winning helps them. If you could win the division, then all of sudden, the guys [go], ‘Coach was right about us man.’ That means a lot.”"

Next. Previewing Washington vs. Carolina in Week 16. dark

We’ll soon see if Rivera and Co. can get the job done.

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