Newton Must Buckle Down Now

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Adversity in a career is sure to pop up several times. Cam Newton had instant success when he stepped onto the football field as a rookie against the Arizona Cardinals. It carried over to one of the more memorable years by a rookie quarterback. Then the offseason happened and defensive coordinators and staffs were able to prepare and study Newton’s tendencies all offseason.

Sort of like a pitcher that sees his command lost and ERA continue to skyrocket, Newton has not been able to snap out of a fantasy slump. Owners that want to say he stepped it up late in the season must have had some surprise players such as Alfred Morris or RG3 that helped boost Newton’s early woes in the season. For most owners of Newton he cost them several games for the first few months of the season.

You could pinpoint that Seattle against Carolina was a defensive game, which it was. But Russ Wilson was able to figure out a way to catapult his Seahawks when necessary and had over 300 yards passing.

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This type of performance by Newton could be detrimental to his third year. In prior years Newton could look at his six divisional games as an opportunity to flourish against the mediocre and weak defenses of the Saints, Falcons, and Buccaneers. Well, those days are over. New Orleans has upgraded the defense with Monte Kiffen, and stifled the Falcons from their usual high octane offense. Atlanta has pieces in place to make a further run at the playoffs, and the Buccaneers main strength is defensively where they spent a ton of money bringing in key players.

So for Newton to be effective he is going to have to bring his A game to the table against top tier defenses. He can’t have ping pong type of performances where he settles for poor outings against higher caliber defenses, and then shines against teams that are poor. That will land Newton and Carolina with another record of near .500 or even a few games short.

Someone needs to emerge from the veteran Panthers and have a breakout game to lessen the burden for Newton. Whether it’s old skilled receiver Steve Smith, or running back DeAngelo Williams, Newton needs someone that almost all other top tier teams have in difference makers. All the pressure can’t be on Newton’s shoulders.

One game to start the year would not be a huge significant to a lot of player’s, but this one was for Newton. It does not get any easier for Newton as he has to travel to Buffalo and Arizona over the next three weeks. The game sandwiched in between is a rematch of last year’s Thursday night game against the New York Giants. In that game the Panthers also just scored one touchdown and were blown out from the onset.

An area Newton can find hope is the Panthers defense. They shined in preseason and have a great front seven that limited the Seahawks ground attack. Defenses only hold for so long before they begin to fold from poor offensive plays.

For fantasy owners you have to live by your decision to believe in Newton. As I stated after Sunday’s games, you may want to start your backup quarterback over the next game or two, until Newton has a game worthy of starting. That is if you have a capable fantasy backup.