Two games into his fledgling NFL career and not only the numbers but the records are racking up for Cam Newton.
Most yards ever for a rookie on debut last week, 422 yards. Most ever yards for a rookie in one game last night, 432 yards. First rookie to throw for 400 plus yards in consecutive games. In doing so beating other notable rookie Quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Dan Marino and their careers turned out pretty well didn’t they? He has also reignited Carolina’s key Wide Receiver in Steve Smith who had a torrid year last time out with Jimmy Clausen. However, Carolina has still gone 0-2 to start the season despite running both Arizona and Green Bay close.
Coming out of the draft many critics said of Newton that he would make bad decisions, rely too much on his running game, get hurt on a regular basis and ultimately just not be an accurate enough passer. Newton has so far proved the critics wrong on all those points. His passing has been strong and accurate and he has read defences well, he has not been over reliant on his running game but when he has run, he has done it effectively and smartly, rushing for a TD in both of his first two games. When he has been running in the open field he has gone to ground early and been wary of not getting hit by the defenders.
Despite these successes the Panthers have not been able to turn around their results from last season. Consecutive losses to the Cardinals and the Packers mean that Newton doesn’t really have anything to show for his efforts. The Panthers defence is still not up to scratch, letting up 58 points over the first 2 games and showing very little inclination to put pressure on the Quarterback with 3 sacks from those games.
As it is, Newton should continue to post impressive numbers, if not quite as electric as his first two games, and should lead Carolina to some wins over mediocre teams. He may even end up having one of the strongest rookie years for a Quarterback ever. However, the rest of that team is still not good enough to compete on a game-to-game basis with the absence of a running game and a potent defence being the biggest hindrances to the development of the team.
