10 quick thoughts from Week 11 as Washington spoils Cam Newton’s return to Carolina

The Washington Football Team engaged in an absolute dogfight on Sunday.

Cam Newton’s first start in his second stint with the Panthers. Ron Rivera’s return to Carolina after he was fired two years ago. The reunion between Newton and Rivera, who spent nine years together in Charlotte.

The matchup had every storyline imaginable, was hyped up all week and exceeded expectations. That doesn’t happen very often.

When the dust settled, Washington escaped with a 27-21 victory after the Panthers had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead late in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t pretty down the stretch — Rivera made a few head-scratching decisions and Antonio Gibson inexplicably got tackled out of bounds to bide Carolina an extra 40 seconds — but a win is a win, right?

Yup, and that’s two in a row for Washington. That’s what we call a winning streak, baby. Forgot what those felt like around here.

There was a lot to digest in this one, so let’s do what we do every week and rattle through some quick takeaways from Sunday’s win.

Washington Football Team: 10 takeaways from Week 11

First drive woes on D return: The last thing Washington needed was to let Newton establish an early rhythm. A quick three and out to take the crowd out of the game would’ve been clutch. Alas, Carolina needed nine plays to travel 75 yards before Newton connected with DJ Moore for the opening score.

Opponents have now scored on seven of their opening possessions against Washington; six touchdowns, one field goal.

More 5-1-5 formation, please: With Chase Young and Montez Sweat out of the lineup, Washington rolled with the rare 5-1-5 formation. Credit to Jack Del Rio for adjusting on the fly, but we’d love to see this used more with Washington’s starters.

It could be a lethal formation with Young, Sweat, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Matt Ioannidis. Something to think about for the future!

Antonio Gibson, unfortunately, is a problem: Just when it looked like Washington’s offense was headed for points, Gibson coughed up the football.

Sound familiar?

The second-year RB made it too easy for Carolina, as replay showed he didn’t have a firm grasp on the pigskin. We know he doesn’t have a ton of experience at the position, but if he doesn’t nip this issue in the bud, Washington could be in the market for another running back before long.

That’s five fumbles for Gibson in 2021. Three of those have resulted in turnovers, each of which have put Washington in adverse situations.

• Week 1 vs LAC: Fumbled at Washington’s 4-yard line
• Week 6 vs KC: Fumbled at Washington’s 34
• Week 11 vs CAR: Fumbled at Carolina’s 13

Gibson didn’t see the field for the rest of the first half.

Cam Sims needs more snaps: Sims’ season has been impeded by a nagging hamstring, but he was barely seeing the field before then. Why is that?

Sims proved in last year’s playoff game that he can be relied on in a big spot (seven catches for 104 yards on 13 targets) and he came through with a clutch touchdown to tie the game up at 7-7 in the second quarter.

He clearly has chemistry with Heinicke, who’s probably gonna start the remaining games. With the WR position bereft of production outside of Terry McLaurin, Washington needs to make better use of his 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame, which came in clutch on that TD, as he established great position on the Carolina DB.

No taunting on Cam? Newton scoring a rushing TD on his second official debut as the Panthers’ starting quarterback was inevitable. Washington not being able to stop what was seemingly obvious at the time is besides the point.

It was a feel-good moment for the MVP and boy, did he embrace the moment. So much so, that he proceeded to sprint to midfield, place the ball on Carolina’s logo, and unleash his signature Superman celebration.

And yet, there was nary a flag to be seen. In a season where so much as staring down an opposing team’s player or just flexing after a big play are being flagged for taunting, Sunday’s refereeing crew let Cam’s antics slide.

If you’re gonna call it, at least be consistent.

Give Terry McLaurin whatever he wants: We have a piece on McLaurin’s future contract coming first thing tomorrow morning, so we’ll keep this brief. Washington should just give him a blank check and oblige with whatever he writes down.

On the final play of the first quarter, McLaurin made maybe the play of the game when he adjusted his body to make an acrobatic catch along the sidelines. The reception helped moved the chains on 3rd and 9.

On Washington’s final play of the first half, McLaurin hauled in a touchdown between a host of Panthers defenders.

Wash, rinse, repeat with No. 17.

Taylor Heinicke is a warrior: Heading into the bye, there was split opinions amongst fans in terms of whether Ron Rivera should make a quarterback change. At the time, Washington’s offense couldn’t score in the end zone. Fair or not, that falls on the quarterback, especially if he got the group down there.

Heinicke emerged from the bye with his starting job in tact, and he’s turned in back-to-back elite performances. All you can ask for a QB amid adversity is a response, and Heinicke has done that with room to spare.

For the game, Heinicke went 16-of-22 for 206 yards and three touchdowns to zero turnovers. Each of Heinicke’s TDs were things of beauty, but the rabbit he pulled out of his hat on this 4th and 3 is engrained in our memories.

If there was ever a QB controversy in Landover, Heinicke ended it on Sunday.

While you’re at it, extend DeAndre Carter, too!: Three straight games with a touchdown catch for DeAndre Carter. Imagine typing out that sentence back in Week 1? His third quarter score gives him four on the year including his kickoff return vs Atlanta, bringing him one behind McLaurin and Gibson for the team lead.

Beyond the touchdown, which gave Washington a 21-14 advantage, Carter came through on a 4th and 5 (18-yard catch and run) with just over a minute remaining in the first half. A few plays later, Heinicke connected with McLaurin from 12 yards out.

We’ve seen enough. Carter deserves a second year in Ashburn.

https://twitter.com/FanSided/status/1462509777632694272

Questionable second half decision-making: Rivera made a couple of puzzling calls within a few minutes of each other in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Rivera, that same stretch featured Newton finding McCaffrey for the game-tying TD.

First, Rivera opted to punt instead of attempting a 56-yard field goal with Joey Slye, one of the biggest-legged kickers in the league, to go up by two scores. As evidenced by McCaffrey’s TD, it clearly wouldn’t have hurt to trot Slye out there.

Then, Rivera challenged a potential forward pass from McCaffrey on a trick play to Newton. Upon further review, it was clearly a backwards pass. As a result Rivera burned Washington’s second timeout with over 10 minutes left in regulation. Luckily for Rivera, this move didn’t come back to haunt his squad.

Offensive line stand up!: To say Washington’s offensive line has been ravaged by injuries this season would be a gross understatement. At one point, they were down to their fourth-string center in Keith Ismael with Tyler Larsen and Wes Schweitzer nicked up. Sam Cosmi left with a hip injury, too!

Despite all that adversity and turnover, the OL continues to be consistent. Not perfect, but consistent, which is all you can ask for. That’s a product of great coaching, so we’ll go ahead and give John Matsko his flowers.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t give a quick shoutout to the defense, which allowed just 21 points, surrendered less than 300 total yards and limited Carolina to just 2-for-9 (22% on third down). It was a bend, don’t break approach for Washington’s D on Sunday, and they answered the bell when it mattered most.

What a flipping win.

If you celebrate, enjoy your Thanksgiving, Washington fans. You deserve it.