Cam Newton is deeply self-critical, but the Panthers loss wasn't just on him
Cam Newton seems to be undergoing an identity crisis on the field — and perhaps off it. He told reporters he intends to do some soul searching after a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2. He was once one of the most dangerous rushing quarterbacks in the NFL, and yet Newton has five attempts for negative yardage this season. He’s was once known as a freakish playmaker who has zero touchdowns through two weeks of 2019.
The Panthers quarterback was extremely critical of his play in the team’s 20-14 loss to the Buccaneers on Thursday night as Carolina fell to 0-2 on the season. Newton was 24 of 50 for 324 yards at 6.5 yards per attempt. He had no touchdowns and no interceptions while he took three sacks. His two rushes went for zero yards.
“I feel OK. You’re not going to hear no type of reasons why tonight didn’t go as planned. I have to be better, no matter what physical condition I’m in, no matter what foot, shoulder, I didn’t get the job done tonight. And it’s frustrating. I wish I could say something other than that, but that’s the facts. I’m an extremely brutally honest person with people and I’m extremely brutally honest with myself. It’s time for me to look myself in the mirror and do some real soul searching, because I had opportunities tonight and I didn’t get it done.”
Newton is wise to criticize himself. He has plenty of work to do if he’s going to be the player the Panthers need him to be. But let’s be real: the fault doesn’t fall exclusively on him.
The Panthers’ game plan appeared geared toward getting Newton into a rhythm with slant routes — the problem was that Newton couldn’t get past those basic routes. He struggled to complete downfield passes — some of which were the fault of the receivers. After Newton had seven consecutive incompletions on third downs (the Panthers finished 3-of-14 on third down), the quarterback wasn’t the team’s go-to player on the fourth-and-1 on the 2-yard line in the fourth quarter. Instead, they ran a direct snap to Christian McCaffrey who was unable to convert, which effectively ended the game in a Bucs’ win.
Newton came up short — but so did his teammates and coaches. After all, McCaffrey’s inability to get one yard fell on the running back, his blockers and Ron Rivera, who made the play call, which may have been too cute for its own good. (The call was a fake version of the “Philly, Philly” play, which the Eagles made famous in their Super Bowl LII win over the New England Patriots.) It’s surprising that Newton didn’t get the ball on that play, whether to run or pass. Maybe he should have been in control, particularly on drive when he was 6 of 10 for 53 yards. It was one of the best drives of the game.
Sometimes, the Newton’s critics, including the quarterback’s himself, go too far. On the Panthers second to last drive of the game, he threw just behind Curtis Samuel on a third-and-10. The broadcasters ripped into Newton for hitting Samuel in the back shoulder. Perhaps it was an imperfect throw, but it was certainly good enough for Samuel to make the reception, which almost definitely would have been good for a first down. That mistake fell on Samuel, even if the broadcasters used the play to stilt the narrative around Newton’s bad game.
It’s abundantly clear that Newton isn’t the player we knew from 2015, when he was nearly an unanimous MVP winner. Thursday night was further proof. But it’s not exclusively on him.