Washington Redskins: 7 Keys to Loss vs. Carolina Panthers

The Washington Redskins began the week knowing they would have John Beck, not Rex Grossman, under center against the Carolina Panthers. The defense knew that Cam Newton and Steve Smith would be difficult to contain.

Neither the offense, nor the defense, could do much of anything to consistently stop the Panthers.

It is difficult to point to any one cause for a loss, especially considering everything the Redskins did wrong against the Panthers. A 1-4 Carolina team made the 3-2 Redskins look bad in almost every phase of the game. Here are a few keys in the Redskins' loss to the Panthers.

Breakdowns in Secondary

Kevin Barnes was lost on the touchdown pass from Newton to Brandon LaFell, DeAngelo Hall dropped a surefire pick six and, along with Josh Wilson, got abused by Steve Smith. It was a day to forget for the Redskins secondary, as Smith caught seven passes for 143 yards.

The Panthers used their success in the passing game to open up the ground game and put all of the Redskins' defensive units off balance.

Cam Newton completed 18-of-23, which means the secondary failed to close the distance on passes or get their hands on anything that came their way. The cushion given to the Panthers receivers is understandable considering Smith's big play ability, but he is just one receiver.

Why give a possession receivers like Legedu Naanee and LaFell the room to catch the ball, especially on second and third downs of five or more yards?

Inconsistent Blocking

Kory Lichtensteiger is already on injured reserve, and Trent Williams is out for the next several weeks with a high ankle sprain. Even so, the offensive line looked bad against the Panthers and played a big part in the complete abandonment of the ground game.

The opening possession fumble was just the start of things, as the Redskins saw some key runs blown up and allowed too much pressure to reach John Beck.

Perhaps it speaks more to playcalling, but early in the game, the Redskins were running the ball with good success. Then they saw those same plays result in one, two or no yards as the game progressed. The Panthers were getting interior pressure, forcing side steps from running backs and effectively halting their forward motion in the backfield.

The Panthers defense stopped the run enough to force Kyle Shanahan away from calling run plays.

Questionable Play Calling

When Tim Hightower was ripping off first down runs in the first half, the play action pass was working well for the Redskins. When Kyle Shanahan went to the well one too many times, both in runs to the left side and play action passes, the Panthers got wise and made the Redskins pay.

Ryan Torain's two carries for minus five yards, and John Beck's intentional grounding penalty were avoidable and display a poor gameplan.

Roy Helu's one carry went backwards for a yard on an awkward toss that could have easily been blown up by Carolina's linebackers. The only reason it wasn't horrible was because the Panthers bailed the Redskins out with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Playing one-dimensional on offense with two quarters of play left is a great way to throw a game.

Mike Shanahan may want to consider taking over for his son before the offense costs the Redskins any more games.

Dropped Passes

In the fourth quarter, with the Redskins trailing by 10 points, John Beck threw an interception that all but sealed the loss. For three and a half quarters before then, with the game well within reach, the Redskins receivers couldn't hold onto well-thrown passes that would have extended drives in the thick of the game.

Fred Davis had a good day, but his drop, along with those of Jabar Gaffney and Anthony Armstrong contributed to the loss as much as anything else.

Though it only amounts to a handful of yards in the end, those yards could have been first downs that extended drives and led to scoring opportunities. Instead, the offense is forced off the field, forced to settle for field goals or forced into tough situations on second and third down.

The Panthers made the most of the opportunities they were given by the Redskins' miscues.

Lack of Discipline

It was apparent from the start that the Redskins were in for more than they bargained for with Cam Newton. Not that Newton is an easy target, but he made the entire Redskins defense look feeble in their attempts to trip him up instead of wrapping up for a tackle.

The problem was exacerbated when the defense began overplaying play action and opening big lanes for Newton to run and throw with relative comfort.

Brian Orakpo was guilty of crashing down on a fake inside instead of playing contain on numerous occasions. Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall gave Steve Smith far too much room to catch passes, and then didn't secure the tackle to stop his progress.

The Panthers spotted the Redskins 105 yards in penalties, but neither the offense nor the defense was capable of taking advantage. The Redskins got a way with some false starts that went uncalled, but that is hardly comforting.

Injuries

Santana Moss broke a bone in his hand, London Fletcher pulled a hamstring and Tim Hightower was carted off with an apparent knee injury. O.J. Atogwe, Chris Cooley, Kory Lichtensteiger and Trent Williams were all ruled out before the game, which put the Redskins down six starters by the end of the game.

No team is immune to injuries, but the Redskins have seen their health take a dive since coming off of the bye week two weeks ago.

Losing Hightower was big because he was having a great day running the ball, with 17 carries for 88 yards, when he went down. The loss of Moss removed the most consistent receiver the Redskins have had in the last five years and forced the offense to turn to a handful of unproven reserves in Terrence Austin and Niles Paul.

Turnovers

The opening drive sack-fumble was bad, but rests more on the offensive line than John Beck. The short pass from Beck to Jabar Gaffney that resulted in a fumble gave the Panthers an extra 30 seconds to put another field goal on the board.

The late-game interception was a back breaker and put an end to what might have been a great comeback in a game that shouldn't have been close.

Washington failed to create turnovers, as they have for much of the season thus far despite getting good pressure from their linemen and linebackers. Cam Newton made some bad throws, but the secondary couldn't make him pay. The team that wins the turnover battle wins the game, and the Panthers won the turnover battle, plain and simple.