The Carolina Panthers will travel to face Washington for the Week 15 Monday Night Football game. Kirk Cousins and Washington are favored and have two more wins than the Panthers this season. Cam Newton and Carolina look like a completely different team than the one that went 15-1 in the regular season a year ago.

Monday’s game will kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET and be broadcast by ESPN. As usual, there will be a live stream online via WatchESPN, beginning at the same time and running concurrently with the broadcast.

Cousins has developed into a legitimate starting quarterback and looks like he’s in for the long haul with Washington. He’s completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 4,045 yards with 23 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Obviously, Washington would like him to get his interception numbers down, but he’s still performing quite well.

That’s despite an inconsistent running game led by Robert Kelley and Matt Jones, both backs averaging 4.6 yards per carry this season. They have been good at times and spotty at others, but overall things are working well on offense.

Cousins will be counting on teammate Josh Norman to steer players on the defensive side of the ball in the right direction. Norman rose to stardom with the Panthers a season ago, but when they rescinded his franchise tag this offseason, he joined Washington on a large free agent contract.

Norman has had his ups and downs, but he’s played about as well as anybody expected. He’ll try to keep his former team from playing late-season upset to Washington on Monday.

Washington is still in the running for a wild card spot, though the team isn’t necessarily competing for the top spot in the NFC East due to strong seasons from both the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. But sitting at 7-5-1 on the season, Washington is still right there in the postseason hunt.

At this point, Washington needs a win Monday night to stay in the final wild card spot in the NFC. Luckily, it has a manageable schedule the rest of the way. A win over the Panthers is the appropriate first step. Next, Washington will play the lowly Chicago Bears after Monday’s game against the Panthers. It will be expected to beat the Panthers and the Bears, but nine wins may not be enough to secure a postseason berth.

Finally, Washington will play the Giants, one of those current wild card teams with a better record, in Week 17 to close out the season. Washington managed to beat the Giants earlier in Week 3.

It’s likely Washington will need 10 wins, and but if the team can’t win all three of its remaining games, it will hope the tie against the Bengals earlier in the season will result in a favorable tiebreak situation.

The Panthers have beaten below-.500 teams this season, including the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Los Angeles Rams.

Below is all you need to watch Monday’s game.

How to Watch Panthers vs. Washington on Monday

Time: 8:30 p.m ET

Location: FedEx Field, Landover, Md.

TV: ESPN

Announcers: Sean McDonough, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters

Online Streaming: WatchESPN

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