The defender with the ball had given himself up, just like when a QB slides. When a defensive player (or offensive one for that matter) lays down and makes no attempt to advance the ball, the play is dead. It’s not a free chance to get a 10 yard run up and launch yourself at a prone, defenseless player. It was a no-brainer of a call.
Take away the running lanes from Cam and he is trash
Yeah, just like Usain Bolt. :rolleyes:
Oh look bad sports opinions on the SDMB.
So after waking up and checking my twitter feed and the SDMB… we have Denver headhunting and getting away with it, the NFL blowing its own concussion process, and bad Cam Newton takes. I guess the script-writers couldn’t come up with anything original for the new season after all.
Don’t really get it. I watched the game and didn’t see any head-to-head targeting on Cam. There was one hit by Von Miller when he came in late on a sack, but he was coming in bolt upright. It was head-to-head, but totally incidental. I did miss the last ten minutes of the broadcast because my DVR cut off, so maybe there were more hits in there.
I don’t see any reason to expect regression. Last year’s numbers were actually almost identical to his career averages. The only number that went up substantially was TD passes; previously, his high was 24, and it’s not as though 35 is an earth-shattering number. There were five QBs who threw that many or more last season. He also scored a couple more rushing TDs than normal, but oddly his yards per carry were down - under 5.2 for the first time in his career.
Really, the only reason to expect regression is that his TD numbers were up because of regular short fields (thanks to the defense leading the league in takeaways). But did the defense actually lose anyone other than Josh Norman? They looked pretty good last night.
What the fuck does this even mean? Newton is, if not a great passer, a very good one. If he didn’t run the ball ~125 times a season, he would be throwing for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns every year (by way of comparison, Peyton Manning had thrown for 30 TDs just once in his first six seasons, before going absolutely nuts in 2004). He is top 20 in career yards per attempt. Really, his only problem is accuracy, and I doubt any quarterback in the league other than Tom Brady would average over 60% completions with the crappy receivers he’s played with. The fact that he threw for 4,000 yards as a rookie is otherworldly. It’s one of the most impressive accomplishments in the NFL in my lifetime.
As a Buccaneers fan, I hate Cam. Despise him. But the man is an incredible NFL QB.
Yeah, downgrading Cam (or any QB) based on his performances against the Denver defense is a bad idea. This defense is one of the best in years - maybe the best since the 2000 Ravens.
Let’s see how he does against an average defense before calling him “trash” and saying that “passing is not one of Cam’s strength(s)”.
His TD numbers and yardage were up from his prior two years, which put him statistically on par with his rookie and sophomore years. The thing is he to those numbers while throwing less interceptions and being much more efficient (last year was the first time his passer rating was above 90, and it was just shy of 100 at 99.4). Last year he got the stats, but was also more efficient and he racked up the TD numbers.
I think that efficiency, and his yardage/touchdown numbers, are going to regress back to 2014 and 2013 standards rather than his rookie year.
But I do think you have a point. It was the TD’s, the team record, and the bias of giving the MVP to QB’s that got him him MVP last year, not his raw stats.
The defense got the offense three turnovers, including two picks of a rookie QB, and the Panthers couldn’t put up more than 20 points. The way the Panthers win will be the old defense and running the ball. When they need to rely on Cam to throw them to victory against good defense, I think they’ll run into trouble.
He’s a great NFL QB for the Panther’s system. However, as a NFL passer, I think he has a great deal more work to do. Even his highly touted rookie year, he was pretty much on par with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s year last year.
How about grading him based on his performance against the Saints defense. Or the Giants defense? Or the Bucs defense? Same problem.
Cam had his bell rung several times, and you could see the difference each time, even after the leg injury. He had less confidence and touch in throwing, and it took him a while to get it back. (He may well have been a little fuzzy after those helmet-to-helmet hits).
Seriously, I thought the NBA season had started already for a minute there.
Was it just me imagining things, or did the head referee have the most disgusted and annoyed expression when he had to announce the challenge was upheld (taking away a Denver first down on the one), and when he announced no offensive pass interference against Carolina on the next drive?
I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in the NFL rulebook about whether helmet to helmet contact is ‘targeted’ or not. It’s the defender’s responsibility to avoid it (at least, it’s always called that way when, say, Peyton Manning is the recipient).
If you need a good example of one that did happen, look at the second half, on the play when Newton completed a pass but Carolina’s lineman was called for a facemask.
Gene Steratore was clearly annoyed at his crew blowing those 2 calls. Your crew blowing calls can get you downgraded, which might mean you don’t get to work the playoffs, which is a lot less money for them. So it makes sense he was annoyed with them.
You know, that’s a very good point. That is a good (in both senses) reason for him to be annoyed at both those points (though still somewhat unprofessional to let it show).
Now, if there’s a good reason for the Panthers getting penalized four times as much, and all the ignored helmet to helmet hits…
It means that when he has no where to run he is not much of a threat when passing from the pocket. if he was then the Panthers would be 1-0 as I type this message.
Two of those hits were illegal and should have been flagged, but the league would, so far, tolerate the first one because it was face to face. They could make all helmet hits illegal, but they worry that that would take too much away from the game.
Yeah, it looks like at least two of those were clearly headhunting. I thought you weren’t supposed to be able to hit anybody like that.
Sadly, it looks like former Bengals head coach Sam Wyche is in dire need of a heart transplant.
“You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!”
It’s too bad. Cleveland has amazing hospitals with good cardiac units. But he can’t partake.
Also I consider that statement of his as a point of pride. “SIT DOWN AND BE BORING, HEAD BAGGERS”
I can’t believe Cam shanked that kick too! What a clown.