Lots of Washington fans show up, but they didn’t get their money’s worth

The game had a very high markup in the secondary ticket market, primarily driven by Washington fans who don’t get a chance to see their team come down to Charlotte very often. At the beginning of the game there was a lot of burgundy, and it appeared maybe 15,000 of the approximately 70,000 fans in the stadium were cheering for Washington.

By the beginning of the fourth quarter, however, which started with Carolina leading 41-14, there were maybe 5,000 Washington fans left. And a lot of them were wondering why they paid so much to get into this game anyway.

▪  The Panthers’ new “We Only Allow Tiny Handheld Banners” policy seemed to do its job, if the job was to make sure the stadium looked sterile all the way around the sides and that basically no one bothered to make or take a banner.

▪  The Panthers’ 44-point offensive explosion means this team now averages 29.9 points per game. The 2014 team averaged 21.2.

▪  Jonathan Stewart was a sturdy presence all afternoon, rushing for 102 yards and scoring on a 12-yard reception.

▪  Referee Jerome Boger treated everyone to a full-out whistle blow directly into his open microphone. Then, later, he did it again.

▪  The Panthers didn’t have starting receiver Philly Brown because of injury but Devin Funchess did not miss a beat in his first NFL start. After a drop-plagued first part of his rookie season, Funchess is catching the ball out in front of him with much more confidence.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera called the way Funchess went after the football “Kelvin-esque” in his postgame news conference, referring to injured wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. That was a high compliment.

▪  Safety Kurt Coleman has now caught up with cornerback Josh Norman for the team lead in interceptions. Both have four. Norman has been hamstrung by the fact that he hardly ever is thrown at anymore.

▪  Carolina punter Brad Nortman may have taken the slowest intentional safety in NFL history in the final minute. With Washington thoroughly blocked on the play, Nortman would have had time to do any dance move he wanted – if he knows any – before an opposing player finally got near enough to him that he stepped out of bounds.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Lots of Washington fans show up, but they didn’t get their money’s worth."