What We Saw: Week 16

Series Navigation

Panthers @ Washington

The Carolina Panthers notched the 200th win in their history thanks to a fantastic showing from their young defense and special teams, who forced 4 turnovers and scored on a muffed punt to overcome the Washingon Football Team, 20-13.

Both teams had a horrendous record in one-score games and at times it looked like neither team wanted to take a hold of this one and win. Dwayne Haskins was benched in the 4th quarter (probably a quarter too late) after a taking a sack on 4th down, and his replacement Taylor Heinicke led the team down the field to score and give his team the chance. The Panthers recovered the onside kick and held on to move to a respectable 5-10 in Matt Rhule‘s first season in charge.

Carolina Panthers

Quarterback

Teddy Bridgewater: 19/28, 197 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks, 2 FUM, 1 FUM lost | 6 carries, 7 yards

It was a serviceable performance from Teddy Bridgewater (9.58 fantasy points) who wasn’t asked to do much more after the Panthers raced out to a 20-3 lead at the half. However, there was no production on the ground which severely hurt his fantasy output. He did find Robby Anderson on a nice crossing route to put his team up by 3 scores on 3rd down.

Robby was on the move 🚀 pic.twitter.com/EKh0KrjlHK

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 27, 2020

Bridgewater threw his interception on the Panthers’ next drive in Washington territory after coming under pressure from Chase Young on the edge.

Chase Young with another big impact play, knocks Bridgewater's hand as he throws, forces ball to loop up to Kam Curl for the INT pic.twitter.com/78Vq3KvSg0

— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) December 27, 2020

Young then sacked him and forced a fumble which Young recovered on the 1st Panthers drive of the 2nd half – again in Washington territory. Bridgewater could have scored TDs on both these drives and that would have likely improved his fantasy output. However, this is what we have seen from him all season. Lapses in concentration limiting his appeal as a fantasy starter.

Running Backs

Mike Davis: 14 carries, 28 yards, 1 TD

Rodney Smith: 7 carries, 23 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 15 yards

Alex Armah: 1 carry, 3 yards

There was little joy for Carolina on the ground against this stout Washington defense. Curtis Samuel actually led the Panthers in rushing as Mike Davis struggled with just 2 yards-per-carry. He did punch the ball in from the 1-yard line on 4th down to salvage his fantasy day. Davis was forced from the field with a knee injury at one point but returned to the contest.

Mr. 1000 – Another TD for former @GamecockFB RB @MikeDavisRB who has eclipsed 1K yards from scrimmage on the season for the first time in his NFL career. @wachfox pic.twitter.com/fTlJREqTpA

— Mike Uva (@Mike_Uva) December 27, 2020

Undrafted free agent Rodney Smith (5.80 fantasy points) looked completely average in all aspects with his 9 touches.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Curtis Samuel: 5 targets, 5 receptions, 106 yards | 7 carries, 52 yards

Robby Anderson: 10 targets, 7 receptions, 39 yards, 1 TD

D.J. Moore: 10 targets, 5 receptions, 37 yards

Pharoh Cooper: 1 target

The focal point of this offense was Curtis Samuel (20.80 fantasy points), who recorded career-highs in rushing and receiving yards by turning short-to-intermediate level passes into impressive gains with his speed and illusiveness.

.@CurtisSamuel4__ was out there snatching ankles 😳 pic.twitter.com/jkIHyFprfw

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 27, 2020

Samuel is the clear WR3 in Carolina but has been used in a number of creative ways by Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady, which can only be a good thing for his fantasy outlook in 2021. Robby Anderson (16.90 fantasy points) and D.J. Moore (8.70 fantasy points) saw double the targets of Samuel but failed to make an impact at the next level. Bridgewater was often throwing into tight coverage, limiting the yards after catch that this offense relies on so much. Anderson has been a revelation this year in Carolina but Moore has been somewhat of a disappointment. Both would be served well by an upgrade at quarterback.

Washington Football Team

Quarterback

Dwayne Haskins: 14/28, 154 yards, 2 INT, 1 FUM lost, 2 sacks

Taylor Heinicke: 12/19, 137 yards, 1 TD, 1 sack | 3 carries, 22 yards

Dwayne Haskins (2.16 fantasy points) has never looked as bad in the NFL as he did today. Struggling with his reads, release and accuracy, Haskins threw a pair of near-identical picks, highlighting the fact that he has not been able to improve as a signal-caller and keeps making the same mistakes.

t r e b o 👏 pic.twitter.com/NiNxakfw7w

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 27, 2020

.@Big_Tah47 with the INT pic.twitter.com/pQ5QC0AyKQ

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 27, 2020

What made him look even worse was when replacement Taylor Heinicke (11.68 fantasy points) stepped in and immediately got the offense moving, using his mobility and vision to throw a beautifully lofted pass down the sideline for J.D. McKissic.

TD

📺 #CARvsWAS CBS pic.twitter.com/He7ZORWE10

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) December 28, 2020

Even with Alex Smith under center, this Washington offense does not produce a fantasy relevant quarterback.

Running Backs

Antonio Gibson: 10 carries, 61 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 8 yards

J.D. McKissic: 4 carries, 15 yards | 10 targets, 8 receptions, 77 yards, 1 TD

Peyton Barber: 1 carry, 10 yards

After a highly encouraging rookie season, Antonio Gibson (9.90 fantasy points) returned to the Washington lineup after missing 2 games with turf toe. The game script soon turned negative after Haskins turned over the ball 3 times and Washington found themselves with a 20-point deficit.

J.D. McKissic (23.20 fantasy points) seems to thrive despite the quarterback as Washington’s game plan prioritizes using the back in a number of effective ways in the short passing game. It is the 4th time in the last 5 games that McKissic has seen double-digit targets, and his 2nd 20+ fantasy points game in a row. He has been the perfect FLEX option this season.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Logan Thomas: 12 targets, 7 receptions, 63 yards

Cam Sims: 9 targets, 3 receptions, 63 yards

Steven Sims: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 51 yards

Robert Foster: 2 targets, 1 reception, 28 yards

Isaiah Wright: 1 target

Antonio Gandy-Golden: 3 targets

Tight end Logan Thomas (13.30 fantasy points) led Washington in targets for the 3rd straight game but most of his production came in the 4th quarter with Heinicke under center. Thomas was overthrown by Haskins in the red zone for what would have been his 6th TD of the season. We were probably expecting more from this outing, especially with Terry McLaurin out, but Haskins didn’t give this receiving corps much chance with his play. Thomas also caught a touchdown late in the 4th quarter which was called back on a penalty.

Cam Sims (9.30 fantasy points) has caught just 8 of 17 targets over the past 2 weeks and whilst some of that is on his quarterback, Sims has failed to establish himself as a viable WR2 in Washington due to his inability to complete catches and perfect his route running. Namesake Steven Sims (7.20 fantasy points) trails Cam on the depth chart and cost his team the game today with a horrible muffed punt.