Numbers Don’T Support Alex Smith’S Claims About Cam Newton

[jtnc]

But for the lawsuits and arrests, last week’s back-and-forth from players on franchises that used to be division rivals would have gotten a lot more interest and attention. Still, the comments from 49ers quarterback Alex Smith about the perceived reason for Panthers rookie Cam Newton’s uncanny stats in 2011 were noticed by key players from each team. Panthers linebacker Jon Beason verbally smacked Smith down, and 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis defended his quarterback.

The numbers seem to cut against Smith’s theory, according to Peter King of SI.com.

“I could absolutely care less on yards per game,” Smith said last week, to get the controversy rolling. “I think that is a totally overblown stat because if you’re losing games in the second half, guess what, you’re like the Carolina Panthers and you’re going no-huddle the entire second half. Yeah, Cam Newton threw for a lot of 300-yard games. That’s great. You’re not winning, though.”

As King points out, Newton threw for more yards last season in the first half of games than in the final two quarters, with 2,071 and 1,980 yards, respectively. Also, Newton threw for only 523 of his rookie-record 4,051 yards when they Panthers trailed by between nine and 16 points.

There’s another relevant reality that doesn’t arise from the numbers. Attaching any member of the 49ers’ front office, coaching staff, roster (except for Smith), and fan base to a lie-detector and asking whether they’d prefer the first overall pick from 2005 or 2011 to be the San Francisco quarterback, and the answer would be unanimous.

The same outcome would happen in Carolina, and perhaps the best news for Panthers fans is that Newton has taken the high road, saying nothing in response to Smith’s assessment.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/28/numbers-dont-support-alex-smiths-claims-about-cam-newton/

[Gallagher]

That lie detector bit is hilarious. They can defend their QB all they want, but we all know who the real Ace Boogie is.

[Keep Pounding]

This is the reason I was up set, we all knew we weren't playing catch up every game, and we either was up, or just a possession away from tying or taking the lead in most of our games we lost. For Smith to come out a mix in facts with fiction to make him prove his point was upsetting. I have always hated the 49ers, and this just added to my hatred of that team and its fan base.

[KendrickPanther]

Yeah if what Alex Smith said was actually true I would have accepted his opinion. The fact he weaseled out of his own failure by fabricating a story about Cam was irritating. It's May, we need to talk about something.

[Ivan The Awesome]

This story needs to die already.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

49ers, your on notice!

[Koda]

Alex Smith will only be tolerated for so long in SF. Eventually the 49ers will be in a position to draft a QB or pick one up in free agency & he'll be sent on his way. All his comments did were cross Carolina off as a potential landing spot for a back-up QB position in the future.

The only thing I take away from all this is that Cam has kept quiet & took the high road. He may be the kid always laughing & cutting up around teammates, but he is also very mature & a born leader.

[Rags]

We all knew this

can we let this die off now. We get it. Alex Smith sucks and wants to pretend like he's bigger than he is.

[Mage]

Man, this story alone is more coverage/attention Carolina's gotten this offseason by the media than in the past 5 offseasons combined.

I feel a bit bad for Smith though. Even though it sounded like he was discrediting Newton's numbers, I don't think that was his purpose in saying what he said. Still, he needs to understand that, especially as a quarterback, you can't really bring up another players name like that unless you are giving him praise.

[pantherclaw]

I guess I just don't understand why an 8 year vet would compare himself to a rookie anyways.

What part of that makes any sense?

[TruCatzFan]

I can see ALL of this playing into a very nice back-drop story line going into the NFC Championship game!

That is of course if Alex Smith doesn't fug it up for his squad, Cam will be Cam and shatter more records enroute to completing the 180' turnaround of this franchise.

[chef17]

This is the reason I was up set, we all knew we weren't playing catch up every game, and we either was up, or just a possession away from tying or taking the lead in most of our games we lost. For Smith to come out a mix in facts with fiction to make him prove his point was upsetting. I have always hated the 49ers, and this just added to my hatred of that team and its fan base.

So you were upset that someone who was busy playing football instead of watching Panther game made an incorrect statement about the Panthers? Not trying to be a dick but seriously, why do you care? His opinion means jack poo

[4Corners]

Would have loved to see what Cam and the Cats would have done if we had the defense playing for us

[SIGCHI222]

Alex Smith....

But seriously, we all know there is a high probability that one of these QB's will have multiple rings over the next 10 to 15 years because of his and his team's play and the other QB might get one in spite of his play and almost exclusively because of his team's defense.The challenge is, to figure out which one's which? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....