Sydney to Hobart race, when six sailors died and five yachts sank during a fierce storm.Spithill also was at the wheel of Oracles 72-foot catamaran when it capsized in rough conditions on San Franci

LANDOVER, Md. -- More than a year has passed since the Carolina Panthers crushed the Washington Redskins to remain undefeated on their way to the Super Bowl, and, oh, how things have changed.All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman signed with the Redskins after the Panthers removed the franchise tag to make him a free agent.While Carolinas younger defense and quarterback Cam Newton have struggled and failed to meet expectations, Washington (7-5-1) remains in the NFC wild-card hunt with three games to go.These arent the same Panthers (5-8) who beat the Redskins 44-16 in November 2015, but theyre still a formidable group in the way of Kirk Cousins and Co. returning to the playoffs.A lot of the same players are back, so were going to have our hands full, said Cousins, who needs 122 yards to break his single-season franchise passing record from last year.I remember we had five turnovers and if we turn the ball over again we can expect a similar result. Weve got to protect the football and if we do that, weve got a chance, but if we turn it over, well put ourselves in a hole just like we did last year.Without Norman, Carolina starts two rookie cornerbacks in James Bradberry and Daryl Worley. But Charles Johnson, Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short are still there on the Panthers defensive line and can rush Cousins, who has 23 touchdowns to nine interceptions this season.The Redskins offense hasnt been the problem. Ricky Jean Francois said the defense, which has struggled on third down and in the red zone, is aiming to do two things: Win and stop Cam Newton.Last years NFL MVP is banged up and struggling, but Washington doesnt see him as a hobbled star or the Panthers as a hobbled team.I understand what their record is, but thats still a team at any given time that can still come out and become the Carolina they once were last year with the quarterback they have, Jean Francois said.And they got a great head coach so I know hes pushing those guys up front to keep being the team that they are -- not the team they are now but the team he knows theyre capable of being.---Some things to watch when the Panthers visit the Redskins on Monday night:SACK ATTACK: The Panthers dont have anyone in double digits in sacks this season, but still lead the NFL in that category with 39. Eighteen different players have been in on a sack this season for the Panthers, led by situational pass rusher Mario Addison with 7+.Its never one thing, defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said of the teams rise up the leaderboard in sacks. I know sometimes you guys want me to say, `Well, its just this. Here was the magic deal. No, its working hard. Its earning the right to be good.We got off to maybe a slow start in that (sacks) category. But the guys have worked extremely hard. The coaches have worked extremely hard to get it to where it is right now.NORMAN FIRED UP: Redskins coach Jay Gruden believes Norman gets up for every game, but this one against his former team will have some extra juice.Norman said he almost felt stabbed in the back when the Panthers removed the franchise tag. I think come Monday night, those emotions I think they will probably come out and show themselves, Norman said.BENJAMIN EXPECTS TRASH TALK: Panthers receiver Kelvin Benjamin anticipates he will be matched up against Norman for most of the game and expects to hear plenty of trash talk from his former teammate.Oh yeah, I know he will talk trash, Benjamin said with a wide smile. Im looking forward to it. Norman and Benjamin exchanged trash talk when the two practiced against each other, but said he never let the cornerback get in his head.Not at all, actually, Benjamin said with a smile. I would probably say I used to get in Joshs head more than he got in mine. I just came in with an attitude (my rookie year) to compete.SO MUCH FOR MVP: Newton has struggled with accuracy all season and has completed just 43 percent of his passes over his past four games with no more than 14 completions in any of those matchups. Newton is completing 53.5 percent of his passes for the season, the worst mark among starting quarterbacks in the NFL.Newton said Wednesday that he couldnt care less about his completion percentage and his only concern is wins and losses.SPAIGHTS SPOTLIGHT: With middle linebacker Will Compton injured, Martrell Spaight could make his first pro start for the Redskins. Spaight filled in for Compton in a victory at the Philadelphia Eagles and will be given the headset and the controls to the defense against Carolina.Hes a young football player still with limited starting reps, but this is a great opportunity for him, Gruden said. Well see what he can do. We have a good feeling of what he can do. We know he can play the run, hes very physical.---AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed.---For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFLAdidas Eqt Norge . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. Nmd r1 Norge . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. http://www.nmdnorgesalg.com/ . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Ultra Boost Norge . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Nmd Sko Salg . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games.SAN DIEGO -- Always eager for a challenge, two-time Americas Cup champion skipper Jimmy Spithill and his crew of five on a high-performance, 46-foot catamaran hooked into a strong breeze off New York and headed toward Bermuda, hoping to ride above the waves on hydrofoils for all 662 nautical miles.The weather turned nasty about halfway there, forcing them at one point to drop their sails and switch from performance mode to survival mode.Team Falcon made it to Bermuda in one piece, leaving Spithill excited about the future of offshore foiling while respecting Mother Nature.It got pretty bad, the Australian said in a phone interview from Japan, where hell lead Oracle Team USA in the final stop of the Americas Cup World Series this weekend. The first 24 hours were awesome. We put down some awesome miles and got to the Gulf Stream pretty quickly. Then it started to turn for the worse.Waves that had been 6 1/2 feet grew as big as 20 to 25 feet as the wind rose from 20 knots up to 40 to 45 knots.Anytime you have to go offshore, you have to be prepared for the worst, Spithill said. Its like mountain climbing. Anyone who goes up Everest or any other decent mountain, you have to be prepared for the weather to change and you have to have a plan. We were always prepared for the worst. In that situation you usually learn something about yourself and the team around you. It was impressive to see how everyone responded and got through it.The boat sailed at more than 30 knots a few times during the 66-hour trip, Spithill said.Down to bare poles at one point in strong wind, the cat was still going 20 knots down waves. We had a hard time slowing the boat up, Spithill said. Thats what youve got to be able to face when youre on the ocean, especially the Gulf Stream, which can be pretty notorious water. It was pretty crazy.It was some of the best sailing Ive done of my life offshore. It proves this is the next step in the offshore world, Spithill said.The trip was the idea of Shannon Falcone of Antigua, a former Oracle Team USA crewmember, and backed by Red Bull, which sponsors both OTUSA and the Red Bull Youth Americas Cup. The F4, built in the Netherlands, is the first foiling catamaran specifically bbuilt for the open ocean.ddddddddddddFoiling has become the rage in sailing. While the concept has been around for years, it went mainstream during the 2013 Americas Cup on San Francisco Bay in a duel between 72-foot catamarans. Its continued to develop leading up to the 2017 Americas Cup, which will be contested in 50-foot foiling cats in Bermuda.When the Americas Cup catamarans reach a certain speed, they rise up on foils, lifting the hulls out of the water and allowing faster speeds.Its just pure performance, said Spithill, who steered Oracles giant trimaran to victory in the 2010 Americas Cup and then helped rally the American-backed team to victory over Emirates Team New Zealand in 2013. Once you can sort of get that drag gone and get that boat out of the water, its like a turbo boost.One challenge of offshore foiling will be at night. Spithill said foiling requires the crew to anticipate and look around, and the crew had to rely only on instruments during three moonless nights.While Spithill said he got a real test, physically and mentally, from the trip, the worst offshore conditions hed been in were in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart race, when six sailors died and five yachts sank during a fierce storm.Spithill also was at the wheel of Oracles 72-foot catamaran when it capsized in rough conditions on San Francisco Bay in October 2012.Joining Spithill and Falcone on Team Falcon were Oracle Team USAs Rome Kirby of Newport, Rhode Island; Tommy Loughborough of Singapore; Olympic sailor Cy Thompson of the Virgin Islands and Emily Nagel, a member of Team Bermuda in the Red Bull Youth Americas Cup.Matt Knighton, who won the Onboard Reporter Award for the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, was the onboard cameraman, even using a drone to capture video footage during daylight hours.The voyage proved that foiling is the next step in offshore performance, Spithill said.But theres a limit. No matter what, Mother Nature will decide at what level you will operate. And Mother Nature made that decision for us.---Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson ' ' '