Newton: Sophomore Slump?

By The Carolina Wild

Photo by Photo Schedule (footballschedule.me).

QB Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers fall to 1-4 after losing to the now 3-2 Seattle Seahawks Sunday 16-12.

Rookie QB Russell Wilson, who (before Sunday’s game) led the league’s worth offense to North Carolina, a state he once played in at NC State.

There’s been plenty of talk about Newton since his record-breaking rookie season a year ago, but there’s also been talk about a sophomore slump. Is Newton going through a slump?

Let’s take a look at just a few numbers without really digging into it – that’s for another time.

Through five games last year, Newtown had thrown nine touchdowns and had only given up three interceptions. This season, through week five, Newton’s only thrown four touchdowns and given up five interceptions. Compare his quarterback rating of 99.3 last year to 87.5 this year and it’s not hard to see.

However, Cam has thrown for more yards this season, which might be explained by the number of “explosive” plays from the line this season we’ve seen from guys like WR’s Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell.

What’s going on with Newton?

COMMENT BELOW TO WEIGH-IN WITH YOUR THOUGHTS…

Newton was 12-for-29 with 141 yards. That’s it, nothing more. Newton had plenty of errant passes, but he can think the stone hands of today’s tailbacks, too.

RB Jonathan Stewart caught 2-of-4 passes thrown his way and RB DeAngleo Williams was targeted twice without a single reception. Stewart and Williams both had miserable days rushing the ball with four carries for 16 yards and six carries for six yards, respectively.

Newton, Stewart and Williams all fumbled the ball Sunday.

LaFell was targeted three times and had three receptions for 44 yards. Smith on the other hand, was targeted 13 times with four receptions for 40 yards.

Newton seemed to have some sort of beef with TE Greg Olsen who wasn’t targeted until the fourth quarter. He was targeted three time with two receptions for 37 yards.

There were some bright spots for Newton and this offense in the fourth quarter, though. Sadly, Newton’s fourth-down pass to TE Ben Hartsock was in the dirt and his fumble late in the game cost the Panthers a chance at a decent comeback.

But, it’s a little early to doom Newton to a season of failure, but I’m not too optimistic. Here we are, five games into the season – heading into the bye week – and looking at a 1-4 record.

Today, the Panthers defense looked about as stellar as it has all season.

CB Captain Munnerlyn’s 33-yard interception return for a touchdown was the biggest highlight of the day for the Panthers’ defense.

Other bright spots on defense included LB Luke Kuechly’s 11 tackles on the day (along with and interception), LB Thomas Davis’ six tackles and a sack as well as another sack from DE Antwan Applewhite.

Is it too early to call it a season? Yes.

But we’re not far from that point.

I’m tired – like plenty of other Panthers fans – of watching the horrible play-calling coming from upstairs. We’ve seen this movie before and we’re tired of it.

Let’s just hope the Panthers can regroup during the bye week this coming week.

Falcons sneak past Panthers

By Jay Westmoreland

Photo courtesy of ucumari (via Flickr).

The Carolina Panthers went into this game as huge underdogs, being 1-2 on the season and having won no matchups against Atlanta QB Matt Ryan.

The Panthers started off with a bang.

The defense prevented the Falcons from scoring on the opening drive, which is the first time this season an opposing team hasn’t scored a touchdown on their opening drive against the Panthers.

The offense came out ready to play.

TE Greg Olsen (6 rec, 89 yds, TD) had a big day making plays all over the field. Olsen is without a doubt the best tight end in Panthers history. WR Steve Smith (3 rec, 52 yds) was his typical self, making plays but also getting into skirmishes with opposing players. Receivers Louis Murphy (1 rec, 8 yds) and Armanti Edwards (0-1, 0 pass yds, 1 rec, 12 yds) even got in on some plays. We saw a nice loft pass from Edwards to Smith, but it was an incompletion.

Rookie LB Luke Kuechly (3 tackles, 2 assists) had a nice day. Kuechly was in on a quarterback pressure and made some nice tackles. He continues to show improvement and looks to be a disruptive force in the future.

DE Charles Johnson had a great game, interrupting the Falcons offense throughout the day. Johnson had 3.5 sacks on the game, with zero coming into the day. If Johnson can play each game with the same intensity he played with against Atlanta, then Carolina would have a shot at winning every single game they play. Greg Hardy and Ron Edwards also came up with sacks. The Panthers recorded 7 total sacks, tying a team record for most sacks in one game.

Now for the bad.

Haruki Nakamura is way too inconsistent. While he did have an interception in the end zone and had a few pass break ups, his bad outweighed the good. He consistently played too far off his man, allowing huge gains all day. To Nakamura’s credit, he did acknowledge the horrible play that helped to cost them the win.

The coaching staff must seriously consider moving Nakamura to the bench in favor of former starter Sherrod Martin. Martin may not be much better, but he can’t play any worse than Nakamura.

Another player whose performance helped cost the Panthers the game was rookie CB Josh Norman.

Like Nakamura, Norman tends to play too far off his man which leads to big gains. Rookie or not, his play has got to improve and fast.

LBs Jon Beason and Thomas Davis both had a rough day, but they’re also still recovering from major injuries, so I’m not too worried about it at this stage.

All in all, this was a much better performance for the Panthers after an embarrassing Thursday Night showing against the New York Giants. Carolina looked more prepared and gave the Falcons their toughest win of the season thus far, in the Georgia Dome at that.

As we look ahead, it’ll be interesting to see what, if any, changes the coaching staff makes.

Carolina is off to a 1-3 start, having lost two division games in four weeks. This team is very young and does continue to grow, but it won’t start truly showing until there are more wins and less losses.

Cam Newton (stats) had no interceptions, but did have a fumble (which was recovered by the Panthers).  Bottom line, we must see improvement on the defense, in particular at safety and cornerback.

This kind of game makes you really hate that the Panthers drafted CB Brandon Hogan out of West Virginia a few years ago who has continued to stay injured in his short NFL career. It’s too bad they couldn’t have drafted a stud CB instead of one that doesn’t seem to even get on the field.

Carolina faces Seattle at home next week (thankfully the replacement refs are gone for this game), before going into a bye week. The Panthers desperately need a win going into the bye. We’ll see what they can do, and if they can get their next elusive win against a very good Seattle defense.

Revenge feels oh so good

By Jay Westmoreland

Photo by Steve Selwood (Flickr)

Here we are, a day removed from a huge division win for our Carolina Panthers over the New Orleans Saints. The Panthers looked great in all facets of this game. Offense and defense both stepped up making big plays. The defense did allow the Saints to quite easily march 80 yards down the field their first drive for a touchdown, looking eerily similar to last weeks debacle at Tampa Bay. After the first series, the defense settled down and played like we know they’re capable of doing.

Let’s start with the big momentum swing in the first quarter:

New Orleans QB Drew Brees was backed up into his own end zone. Brees, who is normally one of the best in the NFL when it comes to reading defenses, never saw safety Charles Godfrey reading his eyes anxiously waiting in the backfield. Godfrey steps in grabbing the interception returning it for a touchdown, the first of his career.

The offense seemed to come alive after Godfrey’s interception on defense. QB Cam Newton came out looking flawless, having plenty of time in the pocket thanks to great protection from the offensive line. Rookie Amini Silatolu looked nothing like a rookie. He cleared pathways for our running backs as if he’s been a longtime veteran. If Silatolu can play like this every game, Newton will continue to have a phenomenal season.

The stellar play of third-year WR Brandon LaFell (6 rec., 90 yards) helped to take the pressure off star receiver Steve Smith. Smith went over 100 yards (3 rec., 104 yards), making several huge catches when we seemed to need it most. As he always does, Smitty had an extra edge about him this game that showed throughout.

All in all, this was an excellent turnaround for the Panthers. They put pressure on Brees all day, and continued to push their way down the field on offense. Cornerbacks Chris Gamble and rookie Josh Norman did a great job at containing Marques Colston and Lance Moore. Jon Beason (7 tackles) came up with some huge plays, including his interception towards the end of the game to seal the win for Carolina. Thomas Davis (3 tackles) continued to look great on the field making big plays, all this after coming back from ACL tears on his left knee. Thomas Keiser came up with a sack, and recently acquired DT Dwan Edwards continued playing well.

We now have a very short week before the Panthers face the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants in a nationally televised Thursday Night Football matchup in Charlotte! Both teams are coming off very tough wins on Sunday and will need to bring their best if they want this victory. I give the edge to the Panthers as we have home field advantage. As Newton said after Sunday’s victory over the Saints, “own what’s ours.”

This is especially true when playing in your home stadium come Thursday Night Football!

Prediction: Panthers 28, Giants 17

Week One Reaction: Please, don’t panic

Photo by Parker Anderson (via Flickr)

By Carolina Wild

Cam Newton’s stat line looks a whole lot better on paper than it did for fans watching today’s 16-10 loss against NFC South rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Newton was 23-of-33 (69 percent) with 303 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Compare that to the Buccaneers’ QB Josh Freeman’s 138 yards on 16-of-24 passing (66 percent) with a touchdown, and Newton looks like he had a decent day, minus the two interception miscues.

But the real story here is the Panthers lack of rushing yardage.

The running game just wasn’t there for the Panthers.

Kealoha Pilares lead the Panthers with five, yes five, yards rushing. Newton follows Pilares with four rushing yards.

DeAngelo Williams completes his first game of the 2012 season in the hole. He rushed six times for -1 rushing yards. Without RB Jonathan Stewart (ankle), Williams couldn’t seem to find his rhythm.

Following the game, Williams shared his thoughts via his Facebook page.

“Wow tough crowd,” Williams wrote. “We didn’t win today but we will get better.”

Williams continued with a special message for fans and fantasy team owners.

“I also want to apologize to the fans (and my fantasy owners) because we didn’t play well enough to win this game and Tampa did.”

But Williams shouldn’t bear the full brunt of the loss.

Simply put, the Panthers offensive and defensive lines were man-handled by the Bucs.

Is it time for Panthers fans to panic? When do we panic? Should we have been panicking when the defensive line was pushed around? How about the offensive line? Special Teams play was just as miserable as it was last season, maybe worse at this rate. When do we panic?

I say we wait on pressing the large, red panic button that sits on our keyboards.

This game could be blamed on something seemingly out of the Panthers control – not that we need to look for excuses for this team and an ugly loss in Tampa, but let’s remain calm.

The Panthers fled Charlotte early in the week, abnormally early this week. Because of the Democratic National Convention, the team wanted to get out of dodge and “focus” on their upcoming game.

I’m making an assumption, but maybe the Panthers were a bit distracted by the sunny Florida weather and went into the game a little too relaxed
Speaking of sunny Florida weather, maybe that’s reason two the Panthers couldn’t find their stride.

A rain-soaked field a Raymond James Stadium may have just proved too much for the Cardiac Cats. But, to be fair, the Buccaneers didn’t seem to have a problem rushing the ball.

Look, all I’m saying is this – it’s one game, one loss. See: last year’s Super Bowl Champion.

The countdown begins…

The Panthers gear up for a late Sunday afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa. Photo by Jennifer (via Flickr)

By Jay Westmoreland

So here we are, anxiously approaching the beginning of the regular season opener for your Carolina Panthers against the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All four preseason games have been played, the roster cuts have been made and trades have taken place.

The Panthers are gearing up to travel down to Florida a little earlier than normal due to their home, Bank of America Stadium, hosting the Democratic National Convention. If only President Obama could’ve considered this prior to choosing the dates (I kid, I kid).

The team will practice at the IMG Academy while awaiting Sunday’s match-up with the Bucs.

Carolina has made a few moves over the past few days, most notably cutting 2011 third-round pick DT Terrell McClain and picking up veteran Dwan Edwards (whom was recently cut by Buffalo). Edwards will help the returning Ron Edwards with anchoring the middle of our defensive line.

Another move was the trade of a late round draft pick in 2014 for the addition of former San Francisco 49ers special teams player Colin Jones. Jones has been a standout in his short time with the 49ers and has the speed the Panthers have been looking for on special teams. The team clearly needed the help on special teams, as they were very abysmal during the preseason. Jones was previously sought after by the Panthers, but opted to stay in San Francisco.

Another somewhat surprising move was the retaining of converted WR Armanti Edwards. Edwards is in his third season with the Panthers, but has not shown a lot during this time. He’s looked decent when he’s played, but will need to prove himself this year if he wants to stick around.

Simply keeping a good attitude and being an Appalachian State alumni won’t be enough to keep his roster spot beyond this season.

It was good to see QB Jimmy Clausen keep a spot on the roster. He really progressed this preseason, amassing 178 yards and two touchdowns in the final preseason game against Pittsburgh.

So as we look forward to Sunday’s game with the Bucs, let’s remember Tampa Bay has a brand new coaching staff and the addition of former San Diego Charger Vincent Jackson. This should be a good early test for the Panthers, and give us a great idea of what our defense will look like with all of the starters back.

I’m very excited for the regular season debut of rookie LB Luke Kuechly, and seeing Jon Beason back on the field! We saw Thomas Davis in the preseason, so we know he’s back and ready to sack those opposing quarterbacks! If the defense can improve by just 50% from last season, then I truly believe we’re in for a great season ahead!

Panthers finalize roster

UPDATE: The Carolina Panthers have signed seven players to their practice squad:

By Carolina Wild News Services

On the final day of August, the Carolina Panthers made their 2012 roster official waiving 21 players and releasing one.

Here are the moves yesterday:

WR – Seyi Ajirotutu
G – Bryant Browning
WR – Lamont Bryant
CB – Darius Butler
DT – Nate Chandler
TE – Joe Jon Finley
WR – Jared Green
S – Jonathan Nelson
LB – David Nixon
DT – Ogemdi Nwagbuo
RB – Tauren Poole
S – Jordan Pugh
T – Matt Reynolds
TE – Nelson Rosario
RB – Armand Smith
CB – R.J. Stanford
DE – Ryan Van Bergen
G – Justin Wells
LB – Jason Williams
G – Zack Williams
LB – Kion Wilson

And the Panthers terminated the contract of S Reggie Smith.

Today, the Panthers announced they have signed G Bryant Browning, WR Lamont Bryant, DT Nate Chandler, WR Jared Green, TE Nelson Rosario, RB Armond Smith and G Zack Williams to the practice squad.

Panthers hold off Jets

By Jay Westmoreland

In their third preseason game, the Carolina Panthers were able to hold onto a 17-12 win over the New York Jets in a nationally televised game on NBC. While we’re excited for the win, there’s a lot that the Panthers still need to work on before the regular season begins.

One area of concern is the offensive line and their lack of protection for Cam Newton. What should be one of our biggest strengths has quickly become a concern. With the likes of Ryan Kalil, Geoff Hangartner, Jordan Gross, Byron Bell and Aminu Silatolu, this should be a very good line. Yes, Bell is in his second season as an undrafted player and Silatolu is a newly drafted rookie out of Midwestern State. These are not excuses though. We do expect more from all of these guys though. I’m optimistic this will be corrected by the start of the regular season.

Special teams was another area of concern last night. The Panthers consistently allowed big gains on kickoff and punt returns. Haruki Nakamura‘s brief fight didn’t help their cause and we certainly don’t want to see him taking his helmet off on the field that could result in stupid penalties.

We must see improvement in special teams coverage or there may be a major overall.

The offense didn’t move near as efficiently as we would have hoped for, but this is the preseason and the playbook is being kept very conservative at this point. One worry was Newton’s fumble near the Jets endzone, however, I’m sure he’s already working to correct it.

Louis Murphy has looked very good in his short time thus far with the Panthers since arriving from Oakland. He very easily deserves the third wide receiver spot behind Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell. Not having Smith in the game due to a lingering foot infection definitely hurt the Panthers offensively, but he will be returning soon. Jonathan Stewart went down in the first half with what appears to be an ankle injury, but it doesn’t sound too serious so the hope is he’ll only be out a few weeks. His added dimension will definitely be a significant loss for the team, but I’m confident the coaching staff will be able to fill his void appropriately if it comes to that.

Overall, the Panthers look decent and should be able to correct a lot of their issues prior to the regular season. One of the best plays in last nights game goes to LB Thomas Davis, whose returning from three ACL tears on the same knee. His first game action since 2011 and he makes a huge sack on Jets QB Mark Sanchez for an 8-yard loss! You can’t help but be excited for the guy, who has shown to be a standup person throughout all the tough obstacles he’s had to overcome. Here’s to hoping we see plenty more from Davis throughout the season and beyond! Backup LB Thomas Keiser has also proved to be a phenomenal pickup! He was in on two sacks last night and has had at least one sack each preseason game thus far.

The Panthers return to the field Thursday when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers at 7 p.m.