do you think newton has improved over the course of this season?

[The_Cannon]

His mechanics don't look so crazy anymore. I remember I was at the Jacksonville game and me and my dad were saying how awkward he looked under center and now he looks much more natural there. He's maturing as a player over all just like any rookie does it's just that his ceiling became much higher with his early play.

If you were to put our skill position players on offense on pretty much any other team we would be 4-2 at worst. Add in a healthy defense (Beason, TD, Ron Edwards) we would be a damn good team. But that doesn't mean anything for now. Our deficiencies are more a product of poor decision making (players and coaches) and injuries.

[teeray]

For three quarters today it may have been his best game. The fourth was a little shaky but he is a rookie and I do think he is getting better each week.

[scarface]

yes.

[Swarly]

For three quarters today it may have been his best game. The fourth was a little shaky but he is a rookie and I do think he is getting better each week.

he looked the best in the pocket out of any game I've seen of him. Scanning the field, going through reads, finding the open man. Couple bad throws, but you can say that about any quarterback.

[Sloth]

I'm ecstatic with him given the circumstances he's in.

Two things that concern me:

1. He's very much a hot/cold guy. Seems to get cold once things don't go right or if he fugs up and takes a while to get himself back on track.

2. Not a great 4th quarter guy so far. He's like Bizarro-Freeman at this point.

I'm almost positive both of these things improve as time goes on.

[fieryprophet]

Yes, and I'll give you a reasoned response on how and why he has improved from game to game:

1.) Posted this elsewhere, but his decision making has drastically improved. People will look at the three INTs today and think "oh man, he did worse than his Green Bay game, same INTs with less yards" and expose themselves for the surface-reading niiwits they are. His only truly bad INT today was the short screen that the DL made a great play on to snag. The first was a fluke tip that would have been a great TD, and the third was a hail mary-esque throw to end the game. In between, he was killing it on a lot of third down conversions, didn't throw too many high balls (which has been his Achilles in the past) and took what the defense gave him down low instead of forcing into coverage deep. The lower yardage totals of late have been because we've played less explosive teams of late, so he hasn't had as many possessions, and today was a perfect example of this, because both teams had very long, time-consuming drives all day. You can't throw for 400 yards with only six or seven possessions.

2.) He's utilizing his running ability more. This may sound like a bad thing considering the "scrambling" rep people tried to tag him with, but the reality is that he is a pocket passer with a unique skillset, and he extended a couple of drivers today and that great TD with that skillset. A couple of times in the Arizona and Green Bay games I saw open lanes that could have moved the chains, but he held off trying to stay in the pocket instead. Take what the defense gives you.

3.) He's shown an ability to adapt to different coverages as games go on. Atlanta really didn't have a solution for him today other than bring more pressure as the game went on, and frankly the blocking failed here more than Cam being rattled. The plays were being blown up from the start, and that's on the offensive line. I actually think the o-line might have been a little gassed in the 4th, because we had opened a huge time of possession edge for the first time this season.

[MWCarolina]

from what i saw yeah. the Arizona game was just the Cardinals not having film on him and then the packers had some film, but not enough, now though teams are learning about Cam. yeah he had 3 interceptions, but one was a tipped pass, Ryan had one of those, but it was caught. the other one was a garbage time interception which is like a garbage time TD, who cares and the other one was just a good defensive play and i guess Newton didnt see or think that the DT would catch that ball.

[Jrock88]

I thought he played pretty well today, granted it doesn't look too good on the stat sheet, but he went through his reads, and delivered the ball well today for the most part. He's not the reason we are losing games, the poise and pocket awareness are phenomenal for a rookie. Who would have thought it would be Cam keeping us in games and being the only reason we've been in any of these games.

I thought they would have eased him in, leaning on the running game, especially after retaining DWill. But we've really thrown him into the fire, and asked him to command this offense like the elite QBs do. And while he hasn't been perfect, hes responded to it far better than any of us thought possible.

[Mr. Scot]

Mechanics got way better last week. Doing a much better job of standing in the pocket too.

His accuracy is what it is, but like I said before, teams have won Super Bowls ith guys like that before. As long as the passes are catchable, I don't care if they're not quite perfect.

[P2808]

He is fine. He has NO help....

[Catalyst]

Cam is playing fine right now. His numbers are starting to decline, but if you look around the league that's happening across the board as it generally does. Most QB's can't sustain huge stats like Cam was on pace for all year long.

I thought Cam played fine in Atlanta. The picks weren't bad throws, just flukey plays caused by two great individual defensive plays. The third was just a hail mary as time expired. I thought Cam did a great job of moving the chains. He may not have been chucking it downfield, but he was methodically moving the ball and that's also a sign of growth as a passer.

Cam right now is the least of my worries on this team. He's the one thing keeping this season from being a total disaster. Put Clausen at QB and we're 0-6 with at least 4 of those blowouts.

[carpanfan96]

He's definitely improved as a QB.

If you watch the game you can clearly see that he's improved his pocket awareness, scanning the field, and going through his progressions.

[Cavscout]

He is getting better

The rest of the team...not so much

[footballisasport]

well, in two weeks we'll be at the halfway point for our 2011 year, so i think its time to ask: do you feel as if newton has improved from the arizona game to the atlanta game? or has he stayed the same iyo?

also, im just asking a question, dont take this as an anti newton thread (which some of you probably still will)

I'm waiting for the rest of the Panthers team to realize that the season has begun. Cam isn't playing a 12 man position.

And to ur question, I'll say he has gone above and beyond what is expected of a rookie QB in such a short space of time but he is playing for a team that not only needs help but seem to have forgotten how to win.