As predictions go, saying the Carolina Panthers would return to the Super Bowl wasn’t really going out on a limb. Plenty of other NFL writers predicted the same, or at least had Carolina in the mix. What no one expected on Planet Earth is seeing the Panthers open the season 1-3, losing consecutive games for the first time since November, 2014.
So, Panthers. I ask, you. What up?
On paper this team should be superior to the one that dominated the NFC in 2015. Sure, you lost Josh Norman at cornerback, but he wasn’t even your best defensive player. That distinction belongs to middle linebacker Luke Kuechly. The offense should have been upgraded with the return of Kelvin Benjamin and everybody had another offseason to work and get better.
This was the best offense in the NFL last year, without Benjamin, averaging more than 30 points a game. The Panthers were held below 20 only twice all season, both losses (20-13 to the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 27 and 24-10 to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50). If ever there was a team built to repeat, Carolina was it? So, again, what up?
The biggest problem seems to be Cam Newton, and hear me out. I’m not going to say the guy isn’t playing his ass off. I do think his mechanics need a little work this year and he’s got into some bad habits with his footwork, but that’s a fixable problem. I think Cam Newton has been dealing with post-concussion issues since he took about 200 hits to the head against the Denver Broncos in Week One. Now, thanks to a goal line hit from Atlanta’s Deion Jones on a two-point conversion, Newton’s brain was rattled again.
Newton, of course, blamed himself.
“I deserved to get hit like that, taking that foot off the gas,” Newton told reporters. “I was so shocked. The guy just came out of nowhere it felt like. But it won’t happen again, any time I get an opportunity to score. There was probably a lot of people that wanted to see that happen. I’m going to talk to my father tonight, and he’s probably going to tell me what I already expect: I deserved it.”
I didn’t want to see that happen. No Panthers fan wanted to see that happen and, frankly, no one in the NFL wanted to see that happen. Newton is too good a guy, too good a player for that. He’s one of the true faces of the league. They don’t want to see it mashed in.
Cam Newton has met with the doctors. Ron Rivera says he hasn't talked to him, yet.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 3, 2016
Newton needs a break to get his head right, literally. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming to town on Monday night, it’s the perfect opportunity to let Derek Anderson take the reins for a night and give Cam an extra week to recover before the Panthers travel to New Orleans for what has become a key match up with the Saints. Anderson can beat the Bucs. Newton, as long as he passes all the protocols, can beat the Saints and the team is 3-3 heading into their bye week in fine shape.
Cam’s concussion issues haven’t been the only problem. The defense was a sieve against the Falcons Sunday, surrendering 300 yards to Julio Jones alone. Now, Jones is an elite player and has that capability, but whether it was the scheme or the defensive backfield, somebody screwed up to literal historic proportions. When you look back at Carolina’s 1-3 record, the only team they beat, the San Francisco 49ers, still put 27 points on them with Blaine Gabbert at quarterback. There’s a defensive issue there, and it’s not just the absence of Josh Norman. It’s not like he’s turned the Washington Redskins into a shut-down unit.
Big picture, Rivera cites youth on defense and the group taking time to figure things out. Offense, it's learning to play together.
— Bryan Strickland (@StricklySports) October 3, 2016
Last year the Panthers were officially the No. 2-ranked offense in the league and the No. 11-ranked defense. Through four games in 2016, they are No. 22 and No. 19 respectively. That’s not a drop. That’s plummeting off a cliff.
The good news is the players are still there to turn everything around. The coaches need to take some of the blame too. Ron Rivera is falling back into his conservative gameday decisions that stalled the franchise a couple of years ago. Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott needs to evaluate his personnel and his own defensive scheme too and he doesn’t have much time to do it. Tampa Bay is reeling, but they can still score points and the Saints are just as dangerous as Atlanta on offense. If the Panthers are going to right the ship, it has to happen this week.
And as crazy as it is to say out loud, for one week at least, Newton needs to be on the sideline.
