CHARLOTTE, N.C. If there's a point Cam Newton can be farthest removedfrom his 2015 NFL MVP form, one canconsider it reached. But the situation won'tget better for Joey Rickard Jersey Newton and the rest of the Panthers' offense unle s they adjust to his current limitations and their current weakne ses.
Newton came into Thursday night's game against the Buccaneerslooking to improve upon his losing pa sing performance in Week 1 against the Rams. He was able to throw the deep ball with more succe s, but his pa sing efficiency got worse (25 of 51, 333 yards, 70.1 rating) in another touchdown-le s effort.
The Panthers had to settle for four field goals and a safety Trey Mancini Jersey and Newton couldn't finish a last-gasp drive; all of that added up to another frustrating one-po se sion lo s, 20-14.Following a game in which Newton rushed only threetimes for minus-2 yards and was sacked thrice, he rushed only twotimes for 0 yards and was sacked thrice.
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Is Newton's inaccuracy on short and long throws alike because he'scoming off right shoulder surgery? Are Newton's rushing and scrambling attempts suddenly lowbecause he's coming off a foot injury in the third exhibition of the preseason? Coach Ron Rivera was quick to shut down both of those suggestions postgame.
One thing is clear: To dig out of a 0-2 hole, which dropped their record to 1-9 in their past 10 games and extended Newton's losing streak as a starter to eightgames, the Panthers have to accept,at least for the moment, that their quarterback isn't Superman anymore.
The Buccaneers dared Newton to beat them with his arm by focusing on taking running back Christian McCaffrey out of the Frank Robinson Jersey game. They loaded the box against the power run and kept him well-covered with a Ubaldo Jimenez Jersey smart man-to-man approach. In years past, that game plan would have destroyed a team.
But offensive coordinator Norv Turner and the Panthers played right into the hands of Bucs coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. Arians and Bowles were insistent on Newton proving he could take shots after there were no pa ses of 20 or more yards against the Rams.
Newton got four such big plays Thursday, two each to wide receiver Curtis Samuel and tight end Greg Olsen, but he was wild, too, with plenty of overthrows. He also rushed plenty of short throws and threw often to well-covered receivers in racking up one more incompletion than completion.
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If health is no longer an i sue for Newton, then a lot of the blame should fall on the coaching and personnel not doing much to help get him right. McCaffrey was naturally going to be center of attention for Tampa Bayafter he ripped Los Angeles for 209 yards and twoTDs on 29 touches. The focus worked as he plummeted to 55 yards on 18 touches.
"You've got to bottle him up, you can't let him get out in space," Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David said of the plan against McCaffrey. "At the beginning of game, he was slipping out of our hands, but we had to make a conscious effort of everybody gang-tackling and getting to the football."
Carolina should have anticipated this. It was evident early in the game its opponent was selling out to stop its best offensive Keegan Akin Jersey player. There could have been ways to get Samuel and fellow speedy wide receiver D.J. Moore involved through misdirection or short pa ses playing off McCaffrey, to make sure Newton still had an outlet to get the ball out quickly.
Having Newton stand around and survey the field with no threat of his own running doesn't work. It's a high-risk offense with a le ser chance of a high reward.Turner's scheme is power running to set up downfield throws, but when there's no synergy between the two, there's usually nosteadine s to his offense. There needs to be a way to rebuild Newton's rhythm and confidence.
The Panthers have also Richard Bleier Jersey learned that both of their starting offensive tackles are deficient. Daryl Williams and Taylor Moton aren't built to hold up for long stretches. The Bucs brought a 3-4 pre sure defense that was similar to what the Rams did. Shaquil Barrett was the star pa s-rusher of the night, reprising the role Dante Fowler Jr. played in Week 1.
The Eddie Murray Jersey tackles' task won't get any easier in Week 3against the Cardinals' Chandler Jones and Terrell Suggs. Yet another good 3-4 defense, a Texans unit led by J.J. Watt, awaits in Week 4. The Panthers aren't built to succeed with a heavy dose of deep pa sing, even though, on paper, their skill players and Newton should allow for it.
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Newton didn't make excuses for his latest rough game. He didn't question the play-calling, even when he was denied achance to run the ball near the goal line with the game on the line. Turner instead called afake-reverse outside run on a direct snap to McCaffrey that got neither the game Hanser Alberto Jersey -extendingfirst down nor the game-winning touchdown.
"Whether it's mi sed throws, mi sed protections, whatever, we're not putting points on the board," Newton said. "At times we were lethargic, and times we were flat offensively."
"Stagnant" was another word Newton used, which was absolutely true. The Bucstook advantage of play-calling that didn't include enough checkdowns or smart little plays.When the Panthers finally turned to unpredictability, the Bucswere prepared for it because there was no indication Turner would go back using Newton's legs.
A lot of once-elite quarterbacks have gone through similar slumps. The Panthers have grown used to depending on Newton's immense physical skills to bail them out. Now that he has arrived at a real career cro sroads at age 30, they need to flip the script Cal Ripken Jersey and let him lean on the rest of them for a while or else watch him fade into mediocrity, maybe for good.
