Newton playing like an MVP again
Carolina QB has his team looking like Super Bowl contenders in NFC
It is tempting in some ways to declare that quarterback Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers are back. Newton has spent the past couple of weeks playing at an MVP level again, and his quarterbacking prowess has the Panthers looking like a possible Super Bowl contender once more.
The problem with that is that Newton is not playing as he did in 2015, when he was the league’s MVP while leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl before they lost to the Denver Broncos in Peyton Manning’s final game. This is a different version of Newton. This Newton, whether out of necessity or simply via the on-field maturation process, is playing a less daring, less reckless style, and it is his downfield passing from the pocket that is becoming the centrepiece of the Carolina offence.
“I think Cam has become a better pocket passer,” former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann said Tuesday. “And in doing so, it’s expanded their offence.”
Newton was in the news last week for the wrong reasons, being dropped by a sponsor and issuing an apology after saying at his weekly news conference it was “funny” to him to hear a female reporter ask him about a receiver’s route-running.
His recent on-field performances have been far less problematic. In his past two games — road victories over the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions — Newton completed a combined 48 of 63 passes for 671 yards with six touchdowns and one interception.
It’s not that Newton hasn’t passed effectively in the past. He has. The former first-overall selection in the NFL draft began his rookie year in 2011with consecutive 400-yard passing games. He threw for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns with10 interceptions in his MVP season in 2015.
But even then, Newton was known for the abandon with which he played, setting aside caution with a willingness to run right over defenders in a physical style that sometimes resembled that of a linebacker. This season’s Newton is not that Newton. He has a modest 90 rushing yards on 29 attempts through five games. He was asked during his meeting with media members this week about his proficiency in sliding to avoid hits when he does run with the ball these days.
“Just to get my tail out of harm’s way,” he said. “I’m just trying to take the hits off as much as possible. And I guess that’s the result of it.”
But Newton mostly deflected questions Tuesday about his recent downfield passing and he said he doesn’t want to participate in making comparisons between how he is playing now and how he played in 2015.
The Panthers will take a record of 4-1 into Thursday night’s game at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, another 4-1 team. They have returned to their winning ways after going 6-10 last season as a disappointing followup to their Super Bowl season.
Much of his 2016 season revolved around questions about why officials did not seem to be protecting him from jarring and questionable hits by defenders.
Newton spent the off-season, training camp and the pre-season working his way back from shoulder surgery. Few knew what to expect when the season began from him or the Panthers. His season began with two sub-200-yard passing outings in three games. He totalled two touchdown passes and four interceptions in those three games, so the rust from his inactivity leading up to the season was evident.
But now he resembles a polished pocket passer.