Stopping Newton - The Word is Out

[Zod]

First things first.

The NFL is an organic entity. It evolves. Coaching staffs look for weaknesses to exploit. They do so until those particular weaknesses no longer remain. Then they search for another. This is how it has always been.

Once a team finds a weakness, you can expect others to follow suit. It is a guarantee.

Going into the the Cardinals game, Cam Newton was being rushed by at least 5 defenders a league high 44% of the time. Newton, protected by a patchwork offensive line, saw more pressure than any other quarterback in the league.

How did Arizona use this information? They doubled down, and the league was watching.

Arizona rushed at least 5 defenders 60% of the total snaps. The result? Seven sacks, three interceptions, six points. The word is out, pressure Cam Newton and the Panthers offense will have no answers.

This is not to say that Cam Newton is totally to blame. GM David Gettleman could have provided a better offensive line to protect him. Ron Rivera could have urged Mike Shula to find a way to get the ball out more quickly. Mike Shula could have anticipated the pressure and developed a counter strategy. The Offensive line could play with more heart and better communication.

The blame can be spread around quite easily.

It is now up to Mike Shula to realize that teams will be be bringing more pressure than ever before. It is up to him to counter the strategy with plays that quickly develop and make the defense second guess their approach. Can we expect to see more screens, draws, and hot routes? We can only hope.

In short, Cam Newton can be a franchise player in this league, but not on his own. So far this season his team has let him down.

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[Carolina Husker]

Shula could not have called a worse game in the second half.

[ZeroZeroSeven]

What happened to the play calling from the 1st quarter? The ball was out quick and accurately. Arizona's D was off balance. From then on, the play calls shifted to slow developing plays and Arizona took advantage.

[auburnman]

First things first.

 

The NFL is an organic entity. It evolves. Coaching staffs look for weaknesses to exploit. They do so until those particular weaknesses no longer remain. Then they search for another. This is how it has always been.

 

Once a team finds a weakness, you can expect others to follow suit. It is a guarantee.

 

Going into the the Cardinals game, Cam Newton was being rushed by at least 5 defenders a league high 44% of the time. Newton, protected by a patchwork offensive line, saw more pressure than any other quarterback in the league.

 

How did Arizona use this information? They doubled down. and the league was watching.

 

Arizona rushed at least 5 defenders 60% of the total snaps. The result? Seven sacks, three interceptions, six points. The word is out, pressure Cam Newton and the Panthers offense will have no answers.

 

This is not to say that Cam Newton is totally to blame. GM David Gettleman could have provided a better offensive line to protect him. Ron Rivera could have urged Mike Shula to find a way to get the ball out more quickly. Mike Shula could have anticipated the pressure and developed a counter strategy. The Offensive line could play with more heart and better communication.

 

The blame can be spread around quite easily.

 

It is now up to Mike Shula to realize that teams will be be bringing more pressure than ever before. It is up to him to counter the strategy with plays that quickly develop and make the defense second guess their approach. Can we expect to see more screens, draws, and hot routes? We can only hope.

 

In short, Cam Newton can be a franchise player in this league, but not on his own. So far this season his team has let him down.

 

Dont know who all saw it but Cam even had Rodney Harrison and Coach Dungy (Harrison actually said it) saying Cam needed to be on a different NFL team...on national tv.  

[Gucci Mane]

I fully believe if smith [and later lafell] dont drop those balls.. Cam throws 1 pick, maybe. Momentum is a helluva drug.

[chknwing]

after watching Manning and Romo go at it yesterday, it obvious to me that Cam will always be a gimmick qb.  He is not a pro style qb and will never be accurate on deep passes.  I dont think Cam can get us to the Super Bowl.  Its not his fault, hes doing what he is capable of doing.

[stirs]

Instead of taking a 15 yd loss with each sack, love to see him heave one out of bounds.

 

2nd and 10, beats 2nd and 23

[Ricky Spanish]

after watching Manning and Romo go at it yesterday, it obvious to me that Cam will always be a gimmick qb.  He is not a pro style qb and will never be accurate on deep passes.  I dont think Cam can get us to the Super Bowl.  Its not his fault, hes doing what he is capable of doing.

 

you are comparing a third year, raw prospect of a QB to arguably the greatest QB of all time and a guy people have been giving crap for the past 5 years for not playing well when it counts. Both in their mid to late 30's with tons of experience in the game... That's a bit hyperbolic to claim at this stage in his career...

 

Apples and Oranges dude...

[Jaxel]

The problem is, and homers just don't want it To be true, is that Newton had the vision of a blind cave bat. On a 3rd down sack by dansby, the whole middle of the field was wide open and Lafell came streaking across it, but Cams eyes never even budged from the primary receiver who took a decade to get open. The play ended with lafell telling cam, "hey I was wide the frick open. Look for me bra". The truth until Cam learns to go through his reads in an efficient manner, he will be an average qb at best.

[FattyFatFat]

Find a nfl caliber offensive line and receivers that can hold on to the goddamn ball and cam newton will be just fine.

[JawnyBlaze]

Instead of taking a 15 yd loss with each sack, love to see him heave one out of bounds.

 

2nd and 10, beats 2nd and 23

 

He often does.  He hasn't developed that eye in the back of his head yet that more experienced QBs have, that's certainly something that needs to improve, but usually when he sees a defender coming he's either able to shake him (which is usually his course of action) or he throws it away.  He's not that bad at taking sacks, considering how often defenders are in his face.

[raleigh-panther]

Until the owner gets tired of being a laughing stock of a franchise and sees empty seats, beer not being sold, money not being made,

none of this will change.

 

With each passing game, it is absolutely obvious this team needs to be blown up.  It is obvious that our 'core' players are

also questionable.

 

The reality of the Panthers are there are probably 5 players that other top quality teams would be interested in and I dobut when

the coaching staff is blown up that many of those will be picked up either.

 

The Panthers  are the KMart of the NFL...the original blue light special and until they decide to step up in class the fans will get

what we have always got.

 

As a PSL holder, I'm sick of.  Sick enough to not complain about it anymore.  Sick enough to see what they do this offseason and if it is not a whole sale blow-up and start over similar to what is done in KC, I am truly done throwing $4200 a year on tickets away.

 

 

[footballisasport]

What you said about Cam and the other team's defense, is not only a fact but not new. It's how the game is played and has been played for quite some time. If a team has a weakness, the opponents will take advantage of it. It's up to the team to fix that problem and not do it with band aid and glue.

 

The sad reality of some of the fans is the attitude of: Yeah, we know our team has issues but WE GOT CAM!!!. You're three seasons in and other teams see Cam and know what Cam can do. But when they look at a tape of this team, they're not just looking at Cam. They are looking for the weaknesses in your team to exploit them.

 

The problem  with this team is believing Cam can do it all. Instead of fixing the obvious problem...the O-Line...Receivers...or whatever position that is broken, they simply expect Cam do more to compensate for the team's weakness. Guess what? Other teams see that level of laziness and they will exploit it.  So now you have an O-line that can be easily exploited, which then affect the receivers who cannot get open fast enough to help Cam who is running from defendents because of a weak O-lIne, which then affect the Defense who keeps having to do all they can to keep the game close, which then affects the secondary who has to make sure they don't mess up those return balls.  When it comes to a team, there is no such thing as just a QB, O-line, Receivers, Defense, or Secondary problem. A weak link that is not fixed will affected the entire team eventually. Everyone but Panthers fans get that.

 

Maybe it's time to stop being so Cam-centric and start being more Panthers-centered. When it's all said and done, Cam is no different than Tom, Peyton, Roger and Luck. The opposing team's defense have a job and that is to take him down. The Panthers job on both sides of the ball is to help Cam take the team to victory. Giving him a patchwork of players and assuming that he can take the Panthers to victory lane on his bare talent and strenght alone week in and out is as foolish as believing other teams aren't exploiting this team's weakness but simply focused on Cam.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

you are comparing a third year, raw prospect of a QB to arguably the greatest QB of all time and a guy people have been giving crap for the past 5 years for not playing well when it counts. Both in their mid to late 30's with tons of experience in the game... That's a bit hyperbolic to claim at this stage in his career...

 

Apples and Oranges dude...

 

cam is the greatest athlete in the history of sports if he's "coasted on athletic talent" so far or whatever the half-cocked argument du jour is among the mouth breathers at the moment.  there was nothing gimmicky about the first drive-you saw a quarterback scanning the field and throwing lasers with pinpoint accuracy like a ten year pro.  then the adjustments by the cardinals came, then there were no counter-adjustments made, and a tsunami of mistakes was the result.

 

manning wasn't truly the manning we know now (passing for a million yards with an outrageous TD:INT ratio every single season like clockwork) until at or around the 2003 season, his sixth as a pro.  he "regressed" to something resembling his rookie form in his fourth season with 23 INTs.  he's actually playing probably the best he ever has right now, so i don't buy this bullshit that seems to be commonly bandied about that all a quarterback will ever be is on full display in his third season.  somebody should tell drew brees.

 

everybody here including me hates the fuging cowboys but romo is a damn good quarterback and i also fail to see how comparing cam to him is supposed to be some kind of insult.