Total domination: Carolina Panthers go wire-to-wire to beat Washington, reach 10-0

The Carolina Panthers had rolled to a 17-point halftime lead Sunday and you wondered whether defensive coordinator Sean McDermott might ease up a bit and let the defense coast home in the second half against a bad Washington team.

Carolina had coughed up a 17-point, second-half lead to Indianapolis on Nov. 2 and nearly blew a 23-point lead to Green Bay a week later.

But instead of sitting back in zone coverage on the first play of the second half, McDermott sent Bené Benwikere on a blitz, and the second-year cornerback proceed to sack Kirk Cousins, strip him of the ball and recover it at the Washington 11.

Game, set and overmatched.

After the Panthers (10-0) continued on their merry way to home-field advantage in the NFC with a 44-16 victory, Carolina coach Ron Rivera praised McDermott for his aggressiveness coming out of halftime.

“I liked the first call of the second half,” Rivera said. “We brought a pressure. We were able to hit the quarterback off the play-action, caused a fumble, recovered. That kind of put us off to the races.”

The near-collapses against Indianapolis and Green Bay did not go for naught. After watching the coverage get a little soft and the pass rush a little slow in the second half of those games, McDermott decided he needed to keep the intensity dialed up until the final horn.

“It’s a long season,” McDermott said as he walked through the locker room congratulating defensive players. “You learn lessons along the way and you grow as a team.”

In wins the past two weeks, at Tennessee and against Washington (4-6), the Panthers have allowed a total of two points in the second half. And those came only because the Panthers had punter Brad Nortman dance around for several seconds and step out of the back of the end zone in the final minute Sunday.

The Panthers did what good teams are supposed to do against crummy ones – put them away with what veteran safety Roman Harper called a “choke ‘em out” mentality.

That attitude was evident when Benwikere, subbing for an injured Charles Tillman, came bearing down on Cousins from the blind side and ended up with the ball.

Three plays later Cam Newton tossed his fifth touchdown pass to put the Panthers up 38-14 and make the final 28 minutes a living hell for Cousins, a week removed from posting a perfect passer rating against New Orleans.

“I don’t know his message, but that was definitely a great, aggressive call,” Benwikere said. “Especially given our history, because we’ve let teams come back. We’re trying to make sure we don’t let teams come back. That was a great call to stay aggressive to get the turnover.”

The Panthers sacked Cousins five times, including four in the second half, as Washington abandoned the running game.

Carolina’s defense had five takeaways, set a franchise record with five forced fumbles and held Washington to 14 rushing yards (on 12 carries), the fewest allowed by the Panthers in their 21-year history.

“That’s awesome,” said McDermott, breaking into a wide smile. “We preach it, we preach it and the guys buy into it and it comes down to effort and a mentality.”

As the architect of a top-10 defense for an undefeated team, McDermott should be in the mix for head-coaching openings after the season. He interviewed with Washington two years ago before Jay Gruden was hired.

But interested teams will have to wait on McDermott as long as the Panthers keep winning, and they’ve shown no signs of slowing down.

Things get interesting with this week’s Thanksgiving day game at Dallas (3-7), which snapped a seven-game losing streak Sunday with a 24-14 win at Miami in quarterback Tony Romo’s return from a broken left collarbone.

“It’s no shock or no surprise at all that Dallas won,” Harper said. “We’ve got to continue to go.”

Rivera said Romo’s return and the Cowboys’ win give Dallas something to play for.

“He’s a veteran quarterback who understands their offensive system, they understand him and they have a shot,” Rivera said. “They know they have a shot, so believe me this is going to be a test.”

It might be a short week, but the Panthers will have heard plenty about Romo and former Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy by the time the team charter takes off for Dallas on Wednesday afternoon.

Playing the Cowboys on Thanksgiving this year is like combining a holiday with a rave party, with all the world watching.

“It’s going to be fun, get to see an old teammate. I’m sure he’s going to be playing like a chicken with his head cut off,” fullback Mike Tolbert said. “But it’s going to be a fun atmosphere, a playoff atmosphere.”

Giddy up.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Total domination: Carolina Panthers go wire-to-wire to beat Washington, reach 10-0."