There are two sides to every story.

Your side, most likely that of a Carolina Panthers fan being that you’re currently reading this, probably wouldn’t have minded a loss to Washington here in Week 16. That’s understandable.

The team was 4-10, the prospect of a playoff berth has been non-existent for some time and two more losses would—as a result of the early afternoon games—clinch them the third overall spot in the draft. And you want a realistic shot at one of those four potential franchise quarterbacks.

But, while you’re in it for the greater good, the players and coaches on the field are in it for their livelihood. Even though having a Justin Fields, a Trey Lance or a Zach Wilson in range would potentially be an important step forward for the franchise, none of those 20-year-old college kids are helping put food on their tables—at least not today.

So, no, the Panthers who played against Ron Rivera’s new team on Sunday don’t care about who you want their front office to pick in April. They care about performing well, which they largely did in their 20-13 victory.

The win, just the second in their last 10 outings, came on the strength of a collectively encouraging defensive stand. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t always clean and it wasn’t particularly dominant. It was just right.

Carolina took care of the business that was in front of them—and that was a susceptible quarterback in Dwayne Haskins. Haskins, whose underwhelming play in his young NFL career has likely used up all his rope in Washington, completed just 14 of 28 attempts for 154 yards and two interceptions.

Defensive coordinator Phil Snow and his unit never allowed the 2019 first-rounder to find any sort of comfort throughout the afternoon, consistently applying pressure and knocking him off his spot. Haskins, who ate a pair of sacks as well, would later be replaced by another familiar face in Taylor Heinicke, who fared better (12-of-19, 137 yards, one touchdown) primarily because of garbage-time prevent defense.

The Panthers made an offense with a bad quarterback and no No. 1 wide receiver (sans an injured Terry McLaurin) look like an offense with a bad quarterback and No. 1 wide receiver. The final numbers may not be pretty, as Washington finished the day with 386 total yards, but Carolina’s continuous stops kept a stranglehold towards a result that played much more dominantly than the final seven-point differential.

And that – not worrying about what pick the team has – is the more tangible fruit of their labor. A painfully young defense, who came into 2020 with limited experience, preparation and a league-high turnover rate in personnel is learning to grow together.

Over their last five games, the Panthers have allowed just 322.8 yards to opposing offenses. That’s one heck of a leap from the 380 yards per game they gave up in their first 10 contests. (That 322.8 average would rank sixth in the NFL for the entire season.)

They’ve also tightened up on third down, the bugaboo that cursed the group at an historic pace for much of the campaign. After allowing teams to convert on 68 of their 123 third-down tries (55.3 percent) in those first 10, they’ve shrunk that fat number down to 24-of-62 (38.7) over the last five.

Additionally, Carolina has sprinkled in 16 sacks and nine takeaways in that span, improving on another pair of categories that appeared rather scarce for a chunk of 2020. That has now helped them to three watermark performances of sorts—their shutout of Detroit in Week 11, their second-half stand in Green Bay to keep themselves alive against the league’s top offense last Saturday and their handling of Washington today.

For now, let’s not focus on what the professionals within the organization cannot and should not want to control. Let that sink starting next week and then over the next five months.

Let’s bank on what the Panthers have right now—a budding, relentless, focused defense with three promising cornerstones in Brian Burns, Jeremy Chinn and Derrick Brown. Winners focus on winning. Right, coach?

Matt Rhule: Teams that have historically tried to lose, it hasn’t really worked out for them. Winning teams try to win.

— Bill Voth (@PanthersBill) December 28, 2020

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