Black and Blue Review
If Cam Newton jokingly uses a video game character to nickname one of his opponents, it makes all sorts of headlines. But if the Panthers quarterback plays a near-flawless game in a must-win situation with two broken bones in his back 12 days after crawling out of his flipped-over truck, it doesn’t seem to attract the same amount of attention.
What Newton did Sunday, leading Carolina over Cleveland to set up a winner-take-all matchup with the Falcons, was arguably the most impressive performance of his career. Sure, he’s put up bigger numbers and made more mind-blowing plays, but Newton’s quick and successful rebound was something that would typically make fans and media drool over other franchise quarterbacks.
“What a whirlwind it has been for him, and he never batted an eye. You saw him out there on Wednesday, and that was a big surprise for all of us and he kept getting better and better,” offensive coordinator Mike Shula said Monday.
“Without sounding too condescending or fatherly, I was very proud of him because I can’t even imagine. Just coming back from an injury let alone the fact that with the dang car rolling over it could have been a lot worse.”
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo also missed just one game this season after suffering two transverse fractures. But he admitted to using a pain-killing shot after he came back. Newton won’t take a shot before or during games.
The most surprising part of his return was the amount of running he did: 12 attempts, 63 yards, 2-yard touchdown.
“All indications are he came out of it good,” coach Ron Rivera said.
It helped that the Panthers’ offensive line had another solid game. They allowed only one sack, and no other official quarterback hits.
Midway through the fourth quarter, after the Browns had taken a 13-10 lead, Newton was pressured on a 2nd-and-goal from the Cleveland 9-yard line. He started to scramble, but as a defender was closing in, Newton fired to wide-open running back Jonathan Stewart in the end zone.
“You see time in and time out all great quarterbacks, and the guy who does it the best is probably Aaron Rodgers, where he just moves around and buys time and keeps his eyes down the field and find guys that weren’t maybe open at first,” Shula said. “The difference with Cam is he is so good running it that you don’t want to tell him don’t scramble and pull up and go find a guy. I don’t want to be the guy that does that.”
“I think it’s kind of feel thing for him with the more he plays and gets in those situations. I think the better he’s going to be.”
The touchdown completed Newton’s eighth fourth-quarter game-winning drive. He’s had six such drives the last couple years after totaling just two in his first two seasons.
So even as little things continue to be blown up bigger than they should be, the Panthers’ most important player continues to prove he’s a proper franchise quarterback.