A winning record depends on stopping Cam
PHILADELPHIA >> Cam Newton celebrates home touchdowns by giving the ball to a kid in the seats. It’s accompanied by the Superman imitation, the Carolina Panthers vet pretending to rip his shirt open to reveal the ‘S.’
The most memorable TD celebration by Eagles counterpart Carson Wentz was taking the ball from Zach Ertz, who caught a scoring pass, and handing it to Eagles season ticket holder Mike Trout, the baseball superstar from Millville, New Jersey who plays for the Los Angeles Angels.
Sometimes you’ll even get Wentz flapping his arms in Fly, Eagles, Fly fashion.
One of those divergent styles is going to prevail Sunday when the Eagles, favored by 4 ½ points, oppose the Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field (1 p.m., Channel 29, WIP 94.1-FM).
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (3-3) haven’t had a winning record since beating the Atlanta Falcons in the opener with Nick Foles at quarterback. Wentz is 2-2 with eight TD passes and one interception since returning to the starting lineup after a long rehab from ACL surgery.
Wentz looks most comfortable operating in the hurry-up offense that head coach Doug Pederson turns to in order to establish a rhythm and get his big or fast guys on the opposition’s smaller or slower guys.
“Coach really just kind of goes with his gut instinct on when to push the tempo,” Wentz said. “Obviously, you see it a lot when we do have a big play and we feel like we have a little momentum, so let’s use that and build off it.
Sometimes it’s the personnel they have on the field and we want to keep that personnel on the field because you like your matchups.
“So, it’s really just kind of how Coach feels and what they’re giving us.”
Newton basically is the Panthers’ offense, as he makes maximum use of his 6-6, 250-pound frame to turbo-charge the run game.
Newton has 38 games with at least one TD pass and one TD rush, the most in the history of the league. He needs one TD either way to pass Brett Favre (224) for third alltime through the first eight seasons of a career, two rushing first downs to pass Michael Vick (343) for most by a quarterback in NFL history and 401 rushing yards to pass Randall Cunningham for second all-time in rushing yards by a quarterback.
If Newton stays healthy, he’ll become the first quarterback to rush for 700 or more yards in four seasons in the history of the game. LeGarrette Blount, to give you a baseline, topped the Eagles with 766 rushing yards last year.
Newton is the Panthers’ short-yardage offense as he’s run for 17 first downs, topping running back Christian McCaffrey (13), who leads the squad in receptions and rushing yardage.
“I put my money on him if I need a short-yardage play,” Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. “Shoot I mean he’s already tall enough to even stretch it over most of the time. You’ve just got to make sure that if you’ve got him, you go get him. Don’t mess around or play with it. Just do your job.”
Wentz and Newton are effective when they get out of the pocket and extend plays. Skewed as the numbers get when teams play catch-up, facts are facts. The Eagles are 0-6 when Wentz throws 45 or more passes, the Panthers 3-9-1 when Newton throws 40 or more times.
Newton is 2-2 against the Eagles with six touchdown passes, nine interceptions and 14 sacks. He’s rushed for 149 yards on 31 carries (4.8 average).
“If you don’t prepare for Cam Newton and his ability to carry the ball, you’ll probably have a rough day against him,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins opined. “They have designed runs and power runs. He’s more of a power running back than half the running backs they have. He’s tough to get on the ground. At the same time, you can’t commit a thousand guys to the run because he can pick it up and throw it, and they have more than capable guys to make plays on the back end. That’s what makes it a challenge to match up with these guys.”
The challenge for the Panthers, who were beaten 28-23 at their place by Wentz and the Eagles last year, is to validate themselves as a football team to be reckoned with. The first thing on that list is taking care of the football. The Panthers aren’t good at playing catchup.
A win over the defending champs, no matter what way it happens, would be a huge building block.
“That’s what makes it important,” Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. “Remember the old saying, ‘if you want to be the champs, you’ve got to be able to beat the champs.’ That’s the truth. They’re a good football team, they’re very well coached and again, it is a challenge. This is the game that will tell you a lot about yourselves. Last week we found out something about ourselves. We dug a hole, we almost came back and again that means we have that type of potential. We’ve just got to close the door on them.”