Six short stories from Tuesday at Bank of America Stadium
Another week, another seemingly illegal hit on Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, another clip for Carolina to send to the league asking why a flag didn’t fly.
Well, one did, but it was against Newton for throwing the ball at Redskins defensive end Trent Murphy. The taunting call penalized the Panthers 15 yards, pushing them out of field goal range while an in-stadium replay showed clear helmet-to-helmet contact.
“What I saw was that Cam slid late and the defender went over the top,” referee Walt Coleman told a pool reporter. “I didn’t see any forcible contact with the head.”
Coach Ron Rivera, who saw what everyone else did by looking up at the scoreboard, said afterward he thought Murphy should have been penalized, an opinion that obviously hadn’t changed less than 24 hours later.
“I’m (Newton’s) coach,” Rivera said Tuesday. “I’m most certainly going to favor him and I am biased.”
What happened later certainly didn’t help quiet those who feel there’s some sort of conspiracy against Newton and the Panthers.
With less than five minutes left, defensive tackle Kawann Short was flagged for roughing the passer after he pushed a scrambling Kirk Cousins out of bounds.
So why did one quarterback get the call while the other didn’t?
“I’ve said it before, look at what used to happen to Shaquille O’Neal,” Rivera said. “(Newton’s) a big guy and when he takes hits, it’s a little different.
“When (Short) hit the quarterback, he was still two feet inbounds. But KK hit him pretty good and he flew through the sideline, into the cheerleaders, up against the wall. It looks pretty dramatic.”
Next up for Newton and the Panthers is Saturday’s rematch with Atlanta, featuring the NFL’s leading sacker.
In just his second season, outside linebacker Vic Beasley has exploded for 14.5 sacks, 3.0 more than Seattle defensive end Cliff Avril, who’s sitting second in the rankings.
The Panthers kept Beasley away from Newton in Week 4, but a year ago, Beasley’s strip-sack officially ended Carolina’s hopes of a perfect season.
When asked on a conference call if he’ll change his approach because of all the attention Newton’s no-calls have received, Beasley gave a roundabout answer.
“You just have to be disciplined going against a player like Cam,” Beasley said. “He’s a guy that’s asking for calls now, so you’ve got to be disciplined. Know when to hit his torso and know when to tackle low. That’s why I merely just go for the ball when tackling a guy like him because he’s such a big target.”
Sure, Newton’s “asking for calls,” but does he deserve them?
“That’s not my position to make those calls,” Beasley said. “I leave that to the refs. I know that’s a tough job for them, so I just leave that to them.”
In that Week 4 meeting, Newton exited early in the fourth quarter after suffering the first documented concussion of his career. That game was pretty much over by then, of course.
As much as the Panthers want to, it’s tough to forget the day they allowed a franchise-worst 503 passing yards, with 300 of those hauled in by wideout Julio Jones.
It couldn’t have made for a pleasant plane ride back to Charlotte.
“Yeah, I wanted to open the window and jump,” defensive coordinator Sean McDermott joked.
But while the Panthers head into the rematch with the league’s 32nd-ranked pass defense, slowing down the potent Chargers and Redskins in back-to-back weeks has the young secondary trending in the right direction.
“I see us taking another step,” McDermott said. “We have a certain vision in the defensive room and we’re climbing toward that vision. Sometimes you take a step back. There’s peaks and valleys, but you try and keep the vision in front of you because it gives you something to be passionate about every day.”
Despite their “minuscule” chance to sneak into the playoffs, the Panthers are still expected keep Luke Kuechly on the sideline.
The linebacker was cleared from his NFL’s concussion protocol Saturday, but he was limited to clipboard duty for a fourth straight game.
“He’s a football player, and he wants to play in the worst way,” Rivera said. “But as I go through this and look at all the things, talk with the doctors, talk with everybody just making sure that at the end of the day we make the right decision.”
Which in this case means erring on the side of caution.
“I know a couple of weeks ago I was talking about if he’s ready to go, we’re going to roll him out there. But I’ve got a lot of things to think about,” Rivera said. “I’ve got to make the decision that is going to be best for him and this organization going forward.
“I have to not make just the right decision, but the prudent decision. It’s important we make very good decisions.”
Because he was just eight yards away from becoming the first tight end in NFL history with three straight 1,000-yard seasons,
It was strange seeing tight end Greg Olsen watching the offense during the fourth quarter, and not just because he sometimes is the offense.
According to Rivera, Olsen “took a shot” on his elbow, something that required treatment afterward.
Olsen will likely be on the injury report all week, but it’s hard to see his 156 games played streak ending right now. Especially since he’s just eight yards away from becoming the first tight end in NFL history with three straight 1,000-yard seasons.
“Don’t tell him that much,” Rivera said with a smile, “because (the) very first thing he’s going to want is he’s going to want the ball early.”
Deservedly so, running back Jonathan Stewart came out of Monday receiving a bunch of high marks. Not only was his 132-yard performance his biggest in more than two years, but he did it after taking what Rivera called “a shot on his shin” in the first half.
But how about some applause for the offensive line?
This is a group that, when Trai Turner left for three plays in the second half, had each position filled by guys who weren’t in those spots at the start of the season. Yet the makeshift lineup of Mike Remmers, Andrew Norwell, Tyler Larsen, Chris Scott and Turner have helped pave the way for an average of 123.0 rushing yards in the past four weeks. And that’s after the Panthers failed to hit 100 yards in three straight games.
“It really does start up front with the offensive line,” Rivera said. “Their physicality, their energy level was very high. It helped with the running game and it was very, very good.”