If the over/under on unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman was set at a 1/2, and a bettor chose the under, they would have won.
All week, how Norman would handle his emotions Monday night against his former team, the Carolina Panthers, was a question. Even Norman said he wasn’t sure what would happen when he was on the field against a team that developed then discarded him. In the end, not much. That and other thoughts from the game:
Norman on playing his former team: “Yeah, it was different. It was. I can’t say it wasn’t. Some of the guys did what I knew they were going to do. The routes they were running were similar to going back to what I saw in practice when I was with them. They did a couple things to switch up, which is cool. But at the same time, I don’t know, just going out there and just playing ball and trying to get a W, I think that was the biggest thing. We didn’t get that accomplished tonight, we really didn’t. We have to go back and look at what we did wrong and our mistakes. We’ll go at it for this two-game series. We just have two games left and we have to come out here and finish the job.”
It was not a great night for Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins. He threw a lot of shallow, check-down passes. Here’s what he said about the interception he threw: “I think they did a good job. I think the safety made a great play and did a good job all night of mixing up their coverages and playing different looks and they made a great play. They made some good plays throughout the night.
Defensive lineman Chris Baker knows the Redskins’ playoff hopes are in trouble. “Well, we’ve still got everything that we want in our hands. We just have to find a way to win these next two and see what happens. It’s a whole lot of situations to make it or not make it but we just have to handle what we can handle and that’s going out there and trying to win these next two games.”
Redskins coach Jay Gruden was not happy with his performance following the game. “Yeah, we’re disappointed, there’s no question. But first off, we were out-coached today. There’s no question about that. And I think they played better than us today. So we have to give credit to the Carolina Panthers. It’s my responsibility to get these guys ready to play. We weren’t as ready as I would have liked to have been. We didn’t execute like I would like to have seen. That falls on my shoulders. But we still have two games left to look forward to and hopefully get a victory in Chicago Saturday.”
SEE ALSO: Jay Gruden was not sure of much following Monday’s loss
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton picked up an unsportsmanlike penalty when he tossed the ball at Redskins linebacker Trent Murphy following a slide by the quarterback. Murphy came running in and appeared to have produced helmet-to-helmet contact with Newton. No penalty was called. “I gotta be better than that. That just can’t happen on my part. You know, I just have to let the referees do their job and I thought it was a questionable hit, but yeah, I can’t throw a ball at a person. I know that’s against the rules.”
Newton was then asked about the referees. “Next question.”
He was later asked if he was surprised there was no helmet-to-helmet call. “Next question.”
Carolina defensive end Wes Horton was not impressed with the Josh Norman vs. his former team angle. “It was a lot of ’Josh Norman is coming back to play us.’ We are used to that with the media. You guys are trying to get the big story. We were more focused on what we needed to do to win.”
Notes to know:
— The Redskins gained 335 yards of offense, breaking a team record by exceeding 300 yards of offense in an 18th consecutive regular season game, dating back to last season. The stretch surpassed the 17-game mark set across 1987-88 seasons.
SEE ALSO: Loss to Panthers just shows Redskins’ true identity
— The Redskins have now opened a season with 14 consecutive 300-yard games for the second time in team history (1987).
— The Redskins have now gained 5,692 total net yards this season, moving into eighth-most in a single season in team history.
— The Redskins broke 4,000 net passing yards during the contest and have now reached the 4,000-yard mark in three consecutive seasons for the first time in team history.
— On a 17-yard third down conversion to wide receiver DeSean Jackson, Cousins broke his own team record for passing yards in a single season of 4,166, set in 2015. He now has 4,360 passing yards this season.
— Cousins was held without a touchdown pass, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, tied for the fifth-longest in team history. It was only the second time in Cousins’ 30 regular season games since assuming the starting role in 2015 that he has been held without a touchdown pass in a game.
— Jackson recorded his 11th 100-yard receiving game with the Redskins, tying Ricky Sanders for eighth-most in team history.
— Wide receiver Pierre Garçon extended his streak of consecutive regular season games played with a reception to 100, the fifth-longest active streak in the NFL. Seventy-two of the games in Garçon’s streak have come with Washington, the third-longest streak by a member of the Redskins since the 1970 merger.
— During the game, Vernon Davis (502) passed Ben Coates and Todd Heap (499 each) for 12th on the NFL’s list of career receptions by a tight end.
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