News » The Panthers are traveling to FedEx Field in Landover

Shaq Thompson Color Rush Jersey , Maryland to play Washington on Sunday.This is a game with completely different stakes for each side, even though both teams currently sit at second place in their respective divisions. Carolina has struggled in each of its wins, but sits in good position at 3-1 to challenge for the NFC South title or, at worst, a wild card spot. Washington is in a division that would be a race for the bottom if the Giants hadn’t jumped the gun and already built an insurmountable tally of losses. They need a win against the Panthers to have any hope of catching the Eagles whereas the Panthers need a solid showing to build confidence before running into the toughest half of their 2018 schedule. Here are 3 things you should know before the game kicks off:FedEx Field has a terrible reputationThe artificial surface that games are played on in Maryland is routinely criticized as among the worst in the NFL. It may be second only to Oakland, which is an actual baseball stadium. Washington, as with many of its chronic problems Kawann Short Jersey , has only itself to blame. What does this mean for Sunday?Expect Greg Olsen’s return, if it happens, to exceed the definition of ‘limited’. Their field has long been a magnet for injuries and the Panthers won’t want to risk Olsen breaking his foot for a third time in the last year.You can’t expect the Panthers to be bailed out by any late game, long distance heroics by Graham Gano. Gano spent his first three years in the NFL as Washington’s kicker. He was neither the first nor the last kicker to complain about the field conditions in that stadium. His complaints are backed up by numbers —so here is your trigger warning for documented facts— as he has made only 73% of his 45 career field goal attempts in FedEx Field, a full 9% lower than his overall career rate.The Washington offense wants to make up for last weekThey put up 9 points against the Saints. Sure, they were on the road, but they were playing the Saints. New Orleans wouldn’t know a defense if it walked up to Drew Brees and started catching passes for an absurd number of yards and touchdowns despite not having much talent. Don’t let Ron Rivera read this Vernon Butler Color Rush Jersey , but Washington might be the safest team to nurse a one score lead against. They know they need to be better and the Panthers are always happy to let underdogs punch above their weight class.This should be an easy week of prep for the Panthers. They are coming off of three weeks against Julio Jones, AJ Green, and Odell Beckham, Jr. I just googled Washington’s receivers and I still can’t tell you much about who they are. I’ve heard of Jamison Crowder, but he is their fifth receiver by yards this year. He’s behind a tight end and two running backs. This should terrify you as a Panthers fan. The Giants are hapless and captained by a quarterback who peaked 7 years ago. Eli Manning looked poised and accurate last week. The Panthers are known for finding a way to keep a game interesting long after it should have been over. This Washington team should have the drive to take advantage of whatever opportunities the Panthers leave on the field.Stop me if you’ve heard this before, Washington is a little banged up right nowTheir top three wide receivers, Paul Richardson Cam Newton Color Rush Jersey , Crowder, and Josh Doctson are all questionable this week. Doctson missed Monday night’s game with a heel injury that is expected to plague him all season. Richardson and Crowder didn’t even participate in a walk-through practice Wednesday. Adrian Peterson is also listed as questionable, though he is expected to play through ankle, knee, and shoulder injuries.Washington’s defense is mostly in tact. In spite of rolling out the red carpet for the Saints last week, the unit is still 5th overall in total defense in the NFL. Josh Norman will be looking to make amends for some big miscues in coverage last week that opened up the field for Drew Brees. Let’s not forget how familiar Norman is with the Panthers risk-adverse offense. A new coordinator doesn’t mean that much when Norv Turner was hired to run the same offense that Mike Shula was fired over. The grievance filed by the NFLPA on behalf of Panthers safety Eric Reid earlier this year has been denied by an arbitrator.At the heart of the grievance Reid filed was his free agent visit with the Bengals earlier this year. Reid was asked by the team if he planned to continue kneeling during the playing of the national anthem this year and Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that arbitrator Shyam Das ruled that the Bengals were within their rights to ask Reid about his plans.The grievance contended the question put a precondition on Reid’s employment in violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.Reid signed with the Panthers this month and has taken a knee during the anthem. He also had a confrontation with Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins on the field before last Sunday’s game and harsh words for Jenkins’ approach to social activism after it.Reid still has a collusion grievance pending against the NFL as a whole. His former 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick has also filed a collusion grievance against the league and an arbitrator ruled that case could move forward to trial.