Actually intelligent analysis of Newton's year (not psychobabble bullpoo)

[The_Mango55]

http://www.footballperspective.com/cam-newton-is-having-an-interesting-year/

Basically states that he is playing very well on 1st down and average on 3rd down, but very poorly on 2nd down.

He does a little bit of psychoanalysis, but doesn't mention pouting on the sidelines or the superman dance or compare him to Vince Young. Instead, he compares him to Alex Smith, who has claimed that he tried so hard to live up to expectations that he tried to make big things happen on every throw.

He concludes with this awesome statement:

"I also don’t think Newton is getting a lot of help from his coaching staff or his teammates. They shouldn’t be making things so difficult for him; he needs to have more intermediate routes available to him, more checkdown options, and more players who can make big plays after the catch. Carolina strikes me as a team that could be a lot more effective if they used some dink and dunk; if Ron Rivera and Rob Chudzinski don’t fix the offense, the Panthers would be justified in finding some coaches who can."

[KasayKickz]

Interesting. It makes sense, I feel like the wind has been taken out of the offense often this season, and failed second-down conversions could very well be the cause.

[La Pantera]

Have you seen how many 2nd and longs we've had this year?

[h0llywood]

Have you seen how many 2nd and longs we've had this year?

Silatolu will tell you all about it during the Cowboys game.

[The_Mango55]

Have you seen how many 2nd and longs we've had this year?

Yes, lots of teams face a lot of 2nd and longs.

The problem with the Panthers is that instead of making 2nd and long into 3rd and short, we try to make 2nd and long into 1st and 10 every time, whether it's there or not.

This is partly on Cam for pressing and partly on the coaches for not having good short yardage passes.

[nosuchthingasapanther]

while the playcalling is an issue, cam certainly needs to utilize the checkdowns that are available (i.e. RBs). i can't tell you how many times i've seen a running back literally just standing wide open while cam waits for a reciever downfield to get open.

[Proudiddy]

I'd also be interested to see how many of those 2nd downs were after an offensive penalty or run for no gain or loss. I'm willing to bet a whole lot.

[Mr. Scot]

Disagree on the dink and dunk. Newton is a way better longball thrower than short touch passer, and that turns your offense into a horizontal attack if you don't have great YAC receivers (and other than Smith, we don't).

[The_Mango55]

I'd also be interested to see how many of those 2nd downs were after an offensive penalty or run for no gain or loss. I'm willing to bet a whole lot.

This only covers his passing on 2nd down. Not every 2nd down play.

[Proudiddy]

This only covers his passing on 2nd down. Not every 2nd down play.

I know, but I'm saying how many times was he throwing out of those situations. I've felt like our playcalling in terms of run/pass has been so much more predictable this season as well, which would definitely affect how he does on those downs if the defense knows what to expect.

[Mr. Scot]

My question would be on which down do we most frequently run the read option plays.

(no doubt someone will answer "all of them")

[Proudiddy]

My question would be on which down do we most frequently run the read option plays.

(no doubt someone will answer "all of them")

That's kind of what I'm getting at in why his performance on 2nd downs are bad. If we run a stupid read-option play on 1st and lose 5 yards, defenses and DCs know we are playing out of that base set with a emphasis on finesse, so what are we going to do on 2nd and 15?

[Mr. Scot]

That's kind of what I'm getting at in why his performance on 2nd downs are bad. If we run a stupid read-option play on 1st and lose 5 yards, defenses and DCs know we are playing out of that base set with a emphasis on finesse, so what are we going to do on 2nd and 15?

Aaaahhh, 2nd and 15, or 1st and 15... Takes me back to the days when Steussie was our left tackle.

[The_Mango55]

Every team faces 2nd and long. Some face it more than others but everyone faces it enough to do analysis on it.

Also we have the 7th fewest penalties in the NFL this year.

We do have the longest yards to go in the NFL on 3rd down passes (which is partly because of your point but also because of Cam's struggles on 2nd down), and as the article states even though his 3rd down stats are mediocre he's at least not racking up wasted yardage (3rd down completions that don't get 1st downs) like RG3, Blaine Gabbert, and Freeman so his 3rd down passes go for 1st down when they are completed.