Newton’s 3 TDs propel Panthers by Saints
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cam Newton has the Carolina Panthers off to a perfect start.
In one of the most complete efforts of his five-year career, Newton completed 20 of 31 passes for 315 yards with a pair of touchdowns to tight end Greg Olsen and also ran for a score as the Panthers defeated the New Orleans Saints 27-22 on Sunday.
The Panthers are 3-0 for the first time since reaching the Super Bowl in the 2003 season.
“Outstanding,” coach Ron Rivera said of Newton’s performance. “He made a lot of good decisions.”
Newton’s maturation as a signal caller was on display on third-and-2 at the Saints’ 13-yard line with his team leading 20-16 in the fourth quarter.
He walked to the line, then looked over the defense before standing up and checking into a different play. Newton then faked the handoff up the middle and rolled to his left on a quarterback bootleg and scored easily.
“With that play we have a high tendency of doing something else to show the defense one thing and counteract and do another,” said Newton, who has thrown for five TDs this season and run for two.
It was Newton’s 35th rushing touchdown of his career, tying him with Randall Cunningham and Steve Grogan for seventh-most in NFL history by a quarterback.
Luke McCown, starting in place of the injured Drew Brees, completed 31 of 38 passes for 310 yards, but it wasn’t enough to save the Saints (0-3) from falling three games behind the division-leading Panthers and Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.
It was the first game Brees has missed because of injury since joining the Saints in 2006.
The previous time McCown started was Sept. 18, 2011, a game in which he threw four interceptions in a 32-3 loss while playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was much better this time. “I thought he showed a lot of poise, and I was really proud of the way he played,” Saints coach Sean Payton said of McCown, who fell to 2-8 as an NFL starter. “Our margin of error isn’t that (easy) to overcome.”
McCown started fast, completing 14 of 15 passes for 100 yards on the first two drives, using short passes underneath the coverage. Mark Ingram’s 5-yard touchdown run put the Saints up 10-0 before the Panthers had run their eighth offensive play from scrimmage.