Photo by Daniel Kucin. Washington Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III finished 23-for-39 with 215 yards passing and 53 yards rushing.

Published on: Thursday, November 08, 2012

By Brandy L. Simms

Sunday’s meeting in Landover between the Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers was billed as a matchup between Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton — the past two Heisman Trophy winners and two of the NFL’s most promising young quarterbacks.

Although Griffin finished 23 for 39 with 215 yards passing and 53 yards rushing, the Carolina defense kept him out of the end zone while Newton had a solid performance guiding the Panthers to a 21-13 victory over the Redskins before 79,767 spectators at FedEx Field.

Newton finished 13-for-23 with 201 yards passing including a 19-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Steve Smith in the third quarter. He also ran for a one-yard score in the fourth quarter that put Carolina ahead 21-6 with 12:46 left in the period.

Carolina (2-6) overcame a three-point first quarter deficit and snapped a five-game losing streak in the win over the Redskins.

Photo by Daniel Kucin. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton finished 13-for-23 with 201 yards passing, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Steve Smith in the third quarter.

“RGIII and knowing RGIII and just getting the win is important to me,” said Newton. “I respect RG and everything that he does and especially with this defense that’s led by London Fletcher. Those guys, we beat a good team especially at their house.”

Meanwhile, the Redskins (3-6) suffered their third consecutive loss and head into the bye week hoping to turn around a season that began with high expectations.

“You want to come out of a game like this with a victory,” Griffin said. “We didn’t get that. It’s very upsetting, but at the end of the day, we got a bye week. We have to come back, ready to go. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. I don’t expect any of the players to feel sorry for themselves. We’ve got to come back ready to go.”

Photo by Daniel Kucin. Washington Redskins receiver Joshua Morgan takes a dive Sunday at FedEx Field.