The main reason for Cam's demeanor and "slump"...

[carolinarolls]

Same coach as last season. Def not the same qb

/thread

[rayzor]

there was a culture of apathy here long before rivera got here.

the only thing required for you to get a huge contract was that you were drafted by the panthers. there was no expectation of being great. all you had to be was decent. that was on hurney.

the team itself never had the bar raised as far as expectations. fox, after that first and legendary meeting with the team wher he told them all that no one's job was safe, never really challenged the players to be great. all they had to be was just good enough to keep your job. excuses were constantly made for being underachievers and a mindset of "it is what it is" permeated the team. apathy.

in hiring rivera, it seemed we got someone with fire but really all we've seen is fox minus an winning season. maybe if he had inherited a better defense and an oline that was roided up rivera might have had equal the success, but the bar was never raised moving from fox to rivera.

part of the problem remaining is the players on the team that were used to losing and just shrug their shoulders and continue saying, "it is what it is" only now they've added to their language, "here we go again" kind of just expecting things to fall apart at the first sign of trouble. but what do they care? they still get paid.

this team might need another gutting or a heart transplant. we might need to get more off the team from the fox/hurne era than what has already been cut off.

all of that said, cam has the power to change his own perception and mindset. he may have been brought down by a losing culture that is here, but that's no excuse for not being able to fight back. all of the guys on the team have that same power...or at least they should. most of them are followers, though. just a couple are actually leaders and cam is one of the few and probably has more power of influence than any one else in that lockerroom.

he can be a ray lewis type leader, but first he needs to start fighting again and quit being so controlled or influenced by his surroundings. the only one that can make that happen is cam. but the other grownups on that team need to suck it up as well and quit accepting defeat. they need to be players that make things happen at the end of the game. they need to be guys that turn it on at crunch time.

i think they fight most of the game, but at the end they just allow themselves to get slack because they don't have any confidence in themselves to be able to finish. they expect something to go wrong rather than expecting themselves to be that clutch guy that makes things happen when ther number is up.

[csx]

I believe there could be some truth to this. I think they handle him with kid gloves.

[MadHatter]

Like most of the time, you are wrong.

Cam's demeanor is different...his results are different.

The only things that are the same is the fact that Cam's footwork and mechanics are still weak and that you are still an idiot.

[TheRed]

Lmao can already see where this thread is heading.

Usual crew coming in and spewing the usual rhetoric. Go jump off a cliff already ya miserable bastards.

For the record, Cam has some improving to do. This doesn't change the fact Ron is a piss poor coach, in every facet.

[AceBoogie]

A qb needs two things to be successful. 1. Great weapons around him or 2. A good system in place. You can make the argument that he has #1 but that has been loaded mostly in the backfield that hasn't been working this year. At this age in his career smitty would make a great slot receiver but he's not a #1 receiver and lafell is a #2 some days others he looks like a #3. And I think we can all agree he doesn't have a good system in place. I dare you to find one qb that is winning without a great system or an elite receiving core

[csx]

Lmao can already see where this thread is heading.

Usual crew coming in and spewing the usual rhetoric. Go jump off a cliff already ya miserable bastards.

For the record, Cam has some improving to do. This doesn't change the fact Ron is a piss poor coach, in every facet.

Pretty much all you ever do is complain about what others post and complain about the coaching you miserable bastard!

[TheRed]

Pretty much all you ever do is complain about what others post and complain about the coaching you miserable bastard!

Pot meet kettle. Get over it csx.

[Carl Spackler]

It's a balance you have to have with Cam. If you're too hard on him, he'll quit listening to you and rebel. If you're too easy on him, he'll take advantage of that. A lot of people are like this.

Rivera hasn't found that comfortable medium. Gene Chizik did.

[Guest Hokebuck]

1-6...that's the reason.

i know it's the reason for my demeanor and slump.

Wait till it turns to 1-15! :startle:

[Lumps]

It's cam and the coaching.

Imagine that, everyone's right.

[CRA]

Cam has NOT acted the same this season as last year. He was all smiles and upbeat last season. He looks like he is not having fun out there right now. I know the play calling has been sub-par, but this outcome is on Cam as well as the coaches.

Their playcalling has sucked, but Cam's execution has been sub-par.

After a loss Cam did the same poo last year....media wasn't all over it as much.

Cam was hot and cold last year......great one week and erratic the next. He is still on pace to make comparable "big plays"......difference was there was a great ground attack to help during his lulls last year. Meant chains moved more often and more opportunities (which explains his TDs being down).

If he was slumping his yard per pass and yard per rush would not both be BETTER this year. Offense has slumped.....which is different.

Last year, Cam had a lot to work on.....still does. What hurts this team is the step backwards in OL, rushing attack and playcalling. Cam pretty much is bringing the same thing to the table as last year (expeditions make that look like a step backwards)

[Peppers90 NC]

is because he has an apathetic head coach who has no fire and is not a leader.

If Cam had someone like Harbaugh, Gruden, or Brian Kelly who actually coached him up on the sidelines and lit into him when needed, it would make a huge difference. But Cam feels lost because he has nobody to guide him other than Shula. He goes and sulks on the bench with the Gatorade towel because Rivera lets him.

Ron is too scared to get in the face of his star quarterback. Take the Seattle game, for example, when Cam threw the ball into the turf. Ron was just like, "aw, shucks." And you know what? I don't think Cam respects him. He has every right not to.

A head coach is someone who commands respect and should have power over his players - sort of like a parent, so to speak. You love and enjoy your parents, but at the same time you aren't "buddies" with them and they hold power over you. I don't like using this word, but as a head coach you are a dictator. Ron seems to lack that relationship with his players - in fact, he seems to lack A relationship with his players. He seems to be more of a facilitator and organizer than a head coach. That, not his supposed lack of football knowledge, is why he isn't cut out to coach this team.

Our next head coach will be a mentor and fiery leader who has the balls to be real with Cam.

Just some late night thoughts. Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse.

does Cam need someone to hold his hand through life?

Does Cam need someone to change his diaper too? This thread is off on so many levels it doesnt even deserve a response.

[Who Said What?]

Rivera's players don't respect him?

Is that why they are still playing their asses off for him despite what is so far a train wreck of a season?

You think Rivera is scared?

Did you see him just about bite Captain's head off on the sidelines Sunday?

Ron Rivera was an NFL linebacker---not a great player, no, but a solid contributor on some great defensive teams for 9 years. And not in the Stone Age, either. Very, very few head coaches can say that. This gives him automatic cred in the locker room.

You don't see Rivera challenging Newton?

That's because Rivera is a defensive coach through and though and has given almost complete autonomy of the offense to others---and it is going to cost him his job.

You say he is not a firey leader?

Neither is Bill Belichick.

Another good defensive coach who was considered a complete failure as a head coach in his first gig.

Rivera's biggest problem is that he was persueded into adopting the read option offense and he has no leadership on the offensive side of the ball. None.

Sorry, brother, but a quarterback has got to be a leader. It is part of the job description. You should never have to cajole your quaterback into being a leader. He steps into the huddle and demands it.

Go ahead, gentleman, hurl the troll and idiot and moron remarks my way all you wish, but if the Carolina Panthers had RG III or Andrew Luck or Russell Wilson playing quarterback right now, they would not be 1-6. None of those guys have the talent of Cam Newton--but they all have moxie and all are strong, natural and mature leaders who dont cry and sulk about losing. They don't hide behind towels...

They go out and grab the bull by the freakin' horns and win...and DEMAND the same from their teammates.

Yeah, If they had RGIII they would be last in their division. Wait we are last in our division. Luck is benefitting from a super weak schedule. He still is not on Cam's pace from last year. Russell Wilson has the best defense in the league. None of these guys are the sole leaders on their team. None of them are the sole reason their teams have 1 or 2 more wins than we do. And did you really use the word moxie?