Newton and Panthers eye 12-0 at Saints
Flamboyant QB has coach Rivera reminiscing
WASHINGTON: Carolina quarterback Cam Newton has his coach recalling the Chicago Bears “Super Bowl Shuffle” days of William “Refrigerator” Perry as the Panthers seek a 12-0 NFL start today.
Newton has the Panthers on the verge of becoming only the 10th team to start a season 12-0 when Carolina visit New Orleans (4-7) today.
And his controversial touchdown celebration dances have coach Ron Rivera flashing back to his days with Jim McMahon, Perry and the 1986 Super Bowl champion Bears, who made their own dance video as a team during their Super Bowl title run.
“Man, back when I was playing, we had guys who transcended that time in football, and I promise you, a lot of people hated us because of it,” Rivera said.
“But it was never anything malicious. It was like that with the Super Bowl Shuffle.
“Now, I hope we never do anything like that here, but we were having fun. That’s what it’s about. At the end of the day, a lot of people started to emulate what we did with the Bears because they wanted to have fun.”
Newton brings the leadership of a quarterback, the quickness of a rusher and the toughness of a defender to create a unique character just as Perry, McMahon and the Bears did 30 years ago.
“People are scared sometimes of something different,” said Panthers tight end Greg Olsen.
“He’s playing the quarterback position different than people are used to. He plays the game more like a linebacker and a receiver all mixed into one. He’s unique. He’s comfortable with that, and we’re obviously comfortable with that.”
And, Rivera says, watch Newton after his TD dance moves.
“Watch him when he’s handing out the football to a fan after he scores,” Rivera said.
“He’s not concerned about the opponent. He’s looking for that right little kid to give the football to.”
The Panthers could stretch their overall regular season win streak to 16 games over two seasons, the longest by any NFC club, against the same team they started the run against.
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (10-1) will try to bounce back from an over-time loss at Denver last week when they play host to Philadelphia. The Eagles (4-7) have surrendered the most reception plays over 20 yards in the NFL over the past two seasons.
NFC North leader Minnesota (8-3) play host to Seattle (6-5) with both teams in play-off fights. The Vikings are only one game ahead of Green Bay for the division lead while Seattle are fighting with Atlanta for the last NFC play-off position.
AFC South co-leaders Indianapolis and Houston, both 6-5, hit the road for key games. The Colts visit Pittsburgh (6-5) while the Texans travel to Buffalo (5-6).
A fistful of teams fighting for two wildcard play-off spots include Kansas City (6-5) and Oakland (5-6), who meet today in California, plus the New York Jets (6-5), who play the NFC East co-leading New York Giants (5-6).
The Washington Redskins, who own a tie-breaker edge on the Giants, play host to Dallas (3-8) tomorrow night.
Today’s other games find Baltimore at Miami, Cincinnati at Cleveland, San Francisco at Chicago, Jacksonville at Tennessee, Arizona at St Louis, Atlanta at Tampa Bay and Denver at San Diego.