Can Washington QB Taylor Heinicke's 'Best' Beat Panthers?

Coming off his best game of the year, QB Taylor Heinicke may have to be better against Carolina

Many have joked NFL stands for "Not For Long," and for Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke, both held true after the Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

"I took Monday to really enjoy it," Heinicke said of the win over the defending Super Bowl champs. "Once (Tuesday) came it was time to move on."

One day isn't a lot of time to bask in the glory of your biggest NFL accomplishment to date. But that's the nature of the business. 

By Tuesday, Heinicke's attention turned to the Carolina Panthers in Week 11 in Charlotte. 

"We were going through a four-game skid there where we were losing," Heinicke said. "To get a game like that and win, we have a lot of confidence going into this one, so we feel good about it."

Confidence is good, but it won't be enough to beat the Panthers on Sunday. WFT should like its chances.

The Panthers (5-5) and Washington (3-6) don't appear to be far off from each other. Carolina is built around its defense and is dealing with questions at quarterback. 

Defensively, Carolina is in the top five in the league in total defense, pass defense, and third and fourth down defense. The Panthers are sixth in points allowed per game (19.3). 

The big  weakness shows up in the red zone, where they rank 30th by allowing a 73.9 percent success rate to opponents inside the 20-yard line.

Heinicke played the best game of his professional career against the Bucs. His 81 percent completion is his best, and his 110.4 quarterback rating is his second-best as a starter. 

For a quarterback who has struggled to find consistency in his play, he'll have come up big again.The quarterback matchup will feature former Carolina teammate Cam Newton.

"Me and him had a great relationship," Heinicke said of Newton. "He was a lot of fun to be around. That place is going to be rocking on Sunday.".

It's the biggest challenge of his career so far. Not facing Newton or returning to Carolina. But to be good. Not once, but two weeks in a row.