Washington Football Team vs. Carolina Panthers Pick ATS

Week 11 NFL

Date/Time: Sunday, November 21, 2021 at 1PM EST

Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

TV: Fox

Point Spread: WFT +3.5/CAR -3.5 (GTBets – They’ll match you dollar for dollar with a 100% real cash bonus on your first deposit up to $500! The ultimate bankroll booster!)

Over/Under Total: 43

The Washington Football Team takes on the Carolina Panthers in an NFC battle on Sunday from Charlotte. Each team is coming off a productive week ten. Washington broke a disheartening 4-game losing streak on Sunday, and they didn’t do it against just any team, beating the Buccaneers, 29-19. They look to keep it rolling on Sunday, but they will need to do it against a Carolina team that might be feeling a little better about things following Sunday’s 34-10 road win over the Cardinals. Which team can establish a little roll starting this week?

New Life for the Panthers

First, the Panthers got their playmaker Christian McCaffrey back, and after seeing his second game on Sunday, it’s clear he’s back after running for 95 yards and catching ten balls. But it was really interesting seeing recently-signed Cam Newton take back to the team like a duck to water, accounting for TDs on his first two plays. Nothing against PJ Walker, but the idea of carrying on all season with him was daunting indeed. Not that one spurt against a Cardinals team battered by injuries proves anything necessarily, but at 5-5, they’re a team with a future if they can get on a little run. An incoming Washington bunch would seem to be a manageable spot.

Newton was able to bring some productivity from WR Robby Anderson, who finally had a TD Receiver DJ Moore has gone pretty quiet in the last handful of weeks, and aerially, they’re not the most productive team, to be sure. But after weeks of an error-prone Sam Darnold at the helm, maybe cutting down on some mistakes can help bring that part of their game out better. Either way, with some newness at QB delivering along with McCaffrey and an aerial package that isn’t without talent, maybe they see their offense start to deliver more consistently. Tampa thought last week was a spot where they could see things take hold, and inexplicably, Washington completely turned it around. But they are still one of the worst defenses in the league, especially against the pass.

Why Washington is Dangerous this Week

Having just covered their second spread of the season heading into week 11, it’s not easy to paint WFT as a team that has been delivering, but something suggests they could be dangerous in this spot. They are not without weapons, including a scrappy little gamer at QB in Taylor Heinicke, decent backfield work from Antonio Gibson and JD McKissic, with help aerially from WR Terry McLaurin, TE Ricky Seals-Jones, and a whole bunch of other contributors. It’s one of those teams where on a given week, guys you’ve scarcely heard of can put up TDs.

Washington’s win on Sunday came at a great cost, with rising DE Chase Young being lost for the season following a knee injury. It’s still been a far cry from the defense they were last season. They remain pretty good against the run, an asset that would seem to put them in good stead for this matchup. But that might just be a result of teams having so much aerial success against Washington. They don’t need to run the ball. In any event, with a “D” that is well toward the bottom of the league in yards and points allowed, we could see another spot this week where the Panthers offense has robust success.

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Key Factors

A potential Carolina backer can hang their hat on the fact that Christian McCaffrey doesn’t necessarily need a top-end quarterback to get his top-end production. With Newton productive but in limited action with Walker getting the vast majority of snaps, will they start bringing in Cam more moving forward? Early word says that they will. McCaffrey showed a nice aerial rapport with Walker, so maybe he did enough to earn another start, but I expect a big dose of Cam this week. Are people overlooking the Carolina defense? There have been a few times when they gave up a lot of points, but it was never to a team like Washington, with only the Vikings and Cowboys getting a bunch of points against this group. At home against Washington, that would appear to be a range where we see this “D” resonate, having given up an average of just 19.3 points a game.

Washington found success against a Tampa team that was in many ways its own worst enemy on Sunday. That doesn’t mean they’re not starting to tap into their recipe for success, maybe just well behind schedule. If they can keep things on defense heading in the right direction, they might be able to make a second-half push this season. In their last three, they gave 24 to Green Bay at Lambeau, 17 to Denver at Mile High, and then 19 to Tampa last week. This Carolina offense is hardly automatic, and maybe we see more of that Washington “D” improvement this week.

Take the Home Team

The Panthers have some new life with McCaffrey hitting a higher gear, along with the returning Newton. In this spot, it might actually be their defense that has the biggest say on proceedings. The way Carolina has looked this season, the Washington pass-attack might not be up-to-snuff in this road setting. That leaves them with a good weapon in Antonio Gibson, but the Panthers have repelled better offenses this season, and it seems like, with McCaffrey and some less-undermining QB play, the Panthers should be able to win this footrace. I’ll take Carolina in this one.

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