They Cam, They Saw, They Conquered

Cam Newton shows us he is still a franchise quarterback

By Ethan Joyce

Evan Pike / AP

Well done, Cam. Right after ESPN The Magazine puts you on the cover, you rise to the occasion.

For those who missed the article, the subhead on the cover read, “Remember him? Cam Newton’s on a mission to remind people he is a franchise quarterback.”

Well, if Sunday against the Giants was the first step, that performance—223 passing yards with three passing touchdowns and a running touchdown—was a good start.

Even though the offense looked good, the Giants defense is awful, making every Panther look good: the defense sacked Eli Manning seven times and picked him off once, and DeAngelo Williams looked like the feature back of old with 120 yards on 23 carries. That kind of thing won’t happen every game for Cam and company.

The offensive line is still the biggest problem on this team. It even stood out yesterday, with Cam having to scramble on a good amount of his dropbacks in order to keep most plays alive. People seem to have forgotten how important the non-skill players, a.k.a. the linemen, are on an offense.

Look at the recent success of Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson last year. Both quarterbacks were dropped into great situations. Both also have good o-lines, phenomenal weapons, and great coaching staffs.

I am not trying to play the "aww, poor Cam Newton" card here, but these are all things the Panthers do not have. Jordan Gross is an All-Pro left tackle, but he can’t do it all by himself up front. Ryan Kalil is a serviceable center in this league, but he could get injured at any point.

Steve Smith has been a great option his entire career, but until another receive takes some pressure off him, he will have trouble getting open. Ted Ginn was wishfully brought in for that reason, but I'll never be completely sold on him.

Williams and fellow running back John Stewart are both often injured and seem to only be good for three-yard runs. Also, thanks to their massive contracts, the team is on the borderline of the cap, making it hard to bring any weapon in for Cam.

These are all things that common Panther’s fan can see, and they know a lot of changes have to come to make this team an NFC South challenger again.

But, back to Cam's ability on the field, look at the player comparison listed below and try to guess who they are.

Player A: 16 reg. season games played, 60 percent passing completion, 32.3 passing attempts per game, 4,051 passing yards, and 21 passing touchdowns.

Player B:  16 reg. season games played, 63 percent passing completion, 33.1 passing attempts per game, 4,110 passing yards, and 26 passing touchdowns.

Player A is Cam Newton’s 2011 stats, his first year in the league; Player B is Tom Brady’s stat from the 2005 season, the last year the Pats won the Super Bowl. That was the same season where most fans began to accept that Brady would be an all-time great.

And that stat line for Cam doesn't include the 706 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns.

We should also point out that those offensive lines from the Super Bowl Pats were phenomenal. The Panthers line in 2011 was solid but can’t begin to compare to the championship Pats.

Since Michael Vick came into the league, fans and NFL teams alike have been enamored with the dual-threat quarterback.

But even Vick never had a season where his rush/pass totals for yards came close to Cam’s—Vick’s most successful season was in 2011, when he had 3,892 combined yards.

In my opinion, Cam Newton is one of the greatest athletes we have seen at the QB position. The production, the ability and the durability are all there. The only thing that he has lacked on is maturity.

But now, I think he is ready to show people what he’s made of again, and he wants to show people he can be a leader. Hopefully the Cam sulking-behind-a-towel routine is gone for good.

But one thing is certain: the spotlight for franchise quarterbacks is harsh. We will know by the end of this season whether he can be Superman or not.

Week 2: Rounding up the NFC South

By Ethan Joyce 

Carolina (0-2) loses to Buffalo (1-1) in closing seconds

Panthers' fans saw a very familiar sit yesterday during the team's loss to the Bills: another lead squandered, followed by a gut-punching defeat. Luke Kuechly, the normally leveled-head and heralded linebacker, was called on a defensive pass interference while the Bills were marching down the field. That mistake voided an interception by defensive back Colin Jones, allowing the Bills scored two plays later.

Since 2011, the Panthers are 2-14 in games that are decided by seven points or less. Defensively, the Panthers front seven have looked strong. Holding C.J. Spiller to 100 yards should be a small victory for any team. The defense is also pressuring the quarterback, but,with only three sacks so far this season, they are not reaching him. The teams problems lie on offense. For one, the O-line has already given up seven sacks and 10 QB hits, according to NFL.com. This has forced Cam Newton to scramble more and more, leading to bad decisions. Onlookers saw the Bills rack up six sacks against the Panthers O-line--4.5 of those belonging to Mario Williams (and cue cold shiver).

The Panthers offensive sets just aren't yielding success that an offense with Cam Newton in it should. Too many deep balls flew over receivers heads, to many running plays sent DeAngleo Williams straight into the back of his linemen, and too many times the Bills killed a drive with strong defensive execution.

The last play of the game, where Newton couldn't even get off a last-second pass because he was sacked for 16 yards, hopefully will not serve as an omen for the rest of the season.

Tampa Bay (0-2) lose on a field goal again; this time at the hands of New Orleans (2-0)

After a 60-minute rain delay, both offenses sputtered back and forth. The Bucs ended up losing the game on a last-second field goal.

NOLA.com

Drew Brees recovered from throwing two interceptions--one of which was returned for a touchdown by Bucs' linebacker Mason Foster--to lead his team down the field.

Jimmy Graham was the star of the game with 10 receptions, 179 receiving yards and a touchdown. The Saints' revamped defense played well, but with Josh Freeman struggling so much this season, any defense would have looked stout. Freeman finished the game going 9-22 for 125 yards, with a touchdown and interception.

Freeman is steadily working his way into Greg Schiano's doghouse. It is only a matter of time before he gives someone else a shot, especially since Freeman will likely seek a trade, according to CBS Sports.

Atlanta (1-1) continues to roll

Matt Ryan and Julio Jones showed how strong of an on-field connection they have together; unfortunately for the Rams' defense, they were the ones to find out. The Falcons won the game, 31-24.

Ryan was typical Matt Ryan last night, going 33-43 with 374 yards and two touchdowns. Jones caught 11 of those passes for 182 yards, including one exhilarating 81-yard touchdown.

Though there were a lot of positives for the Falcons' offense, the defense is still a huge concern. The Falcons put no pressure on Sam Bradford, allowing him to throw 52 times while not managing a sack. Bradford had three touchdown passes on the night, all of which came in the second half. After the pick he threw to Osi Umenyiora in the second quarter, Bradford settled into the pocket. Chris Givens had five catches for 105 yards, and Tavon Austin had two touchdown catches.

Atlanta had a 21-0 going to the half but barely squeaked out this win against the Rams.

The Rams are a young team, and this loss is just part of the growing pains process. But, if Atlanta is trying to seriously contend for the Super Bowl, their defense will need to make some serious strides.