Cam Newton: "It's really put-up or shut-up time"

[Lagaffe_07]

Talking doesn't do anything, but he has owned up to it all. What more do you want from him other than better QB play?

What else could he do though? say that he was good?

when you say the same « I need to be better » every week for 10 weeks straights and it’s getting worse on the field, it worrisome and I was getting tired of it.

personally I don’t want a QB that was this bad and was making Superman celebration in week 17 after TD against the Jets. I think it shows a lack of self awareness. I have no problem with celebration but when you are this bad i don’t think you are in a position to make these kind of celebration like you are the best QB in the world.

Cam comment about how the patriots changed the calls when he had Covid rubbed me the wrong way. He missed only one practice when he had Covid and was part of virtual meetings.

It’s great to have a great attitude but at the end of the day what matters is if you can play and Cam can’t. If Mac is better than Cam, the teams will not care about Cam great attitude they will want Mac to play because they want to win.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Poor Cam! From the posts in this thread, anyone would think that he'd missed a shoot-out penalty.

 

[203Pat]

You said you wanted a QB who "could throw the ball" (shrugs).

And Cam actually had a 65.8% completion %-age last year....which was very impressive considering who he was throwing to last year...only 4 players saw 40+ targets (Meyers, Byrd, White, & Harry)...and only 2 saw 77+ (Meyers and Byrd).

Sure...he had some ****ty throws like the screen one against the Rams that turned into a pick six.... but give the man some protection, a great rushing offense, and a defense that doesn't bleed vs. the run...thereby forcing the offense into hurry up mode.

He was 7-8 as the starting QB...despite only being signed in LATE June of last year, getting hit with COVID, not having top notch personnel on offense, and being asked to score a lot because of our leaky run D. All of those things have been solved in this off-season.

If Mac beats him out, great! If not, I am looking forward to seeing our offense improve.

So you cherry pick the stats you like and ignore the ones you don’t. He averaged under 200 passing yards a game. He threw 8 TD’s all year. These numbers are bad 20 years ago. Today they are horrific. Honestly if he does start this year I don't know if he can possibly be worse so I guess there is nowhere to go but up.

 

[Brotherblues]

The Patriot way was always saying little to nothing and doing all the talking on the field through actions.

Its the New York Jets way now. All the hype about Jones is the same as every Jets QB who was supposed to be the franchise - Pennington, Sanchez, Darnold. With the exception of the pragmatic ones, Pats fans have drank the Mac koolaid and are all in. Cams message picks up where he left off last pre season. All the high hopes and dreams of confetti and champagne.

All the good ones also started with hope and hype. It's ok to pass on the koolaid but maybe sip some sweet raspberry tea at least?

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

The Cam led offense that opened the season against Miami was a great ball control offense. Who knows what the shoulder/COVID did to him. But with all these new weapons, I'm looking forard to seeing what they can do. 10 plus play drives, it may harken us back to the glory days of "Clock killin Corey Dillon".

While at times, Cam's play and particually his passing has been bad. His attitude and commitment has been stellar. His teammates love him, and that goes very far on the football field.

I say give Cam a chance, he just might suprise you.

 

[Brotherblues]

I mean he looked good in 2018 with Norv Turner, no?

No he didn't. Why does this myth persist? He hasn't been good since 2015.

 

[PScottman]

I don't get the Cam hate in this forum. Yall are really spoiled brats...we just had TWO DECADES of the BEST QB PLAY OF ALL TIME. No matter who we brought in...it wasn't gonna be that good.

I don't see "hate" at all. Hate is without reason or analysis.

I see a lot of not wanting to see him continue to get starts if all he can do is more "single wing" type offense with an occasional throw. How the coaching staff was able to coax 7 wins out of a team that legitimately had mostly young players/role players, no weapon depth beyond RB, injuries to OL and WR, still amazes me - that was a 3-4 win team. Some of those wins were Cam - and his legs and desire mostly (and honestly a couple losses too because he tried to do too much).

I said it last year - he was the bridge guy. Someone had to follow the GOAT and honestly getting seven wins with that team and that pressure...no issues.

That said, it's not the bridge year anymore. This is a legitimate playoff/fringe playoff team on paper (barring injuries, FAs not working out, Gilmore, etc). The league has seen the "Wildcat Part Deux" Cam offense and will not be surprised by it again. If cannot better balance pocket QBing with both a traditional and QB running offense - it's not hate - it's inevitability. Single aspect offenses don't last in the NFL. Never have.

 

[bigballas]

The Patriot way was always saying little to nothing and doing all the talking on the field through actions.

Its the New York Jets way now. All the hype about Jones is the same as every Jets QB who was supposed to be the franchise - Pennington, Sanchez, Darnold. With the exception of the pragmatic ones, Pats fans have drank the Mac koolaid and are all in. Cams message picks up where he left off last pre season. All the high hopes and dreams of confetti and champagne.

bruh - im still hungover from the Studham kool aid...the heir apparent

 

[Hyped]

What else could he do though? say that he was good?

when you say the same « I need to be better » every week for 10 weeks straights and it’s getting worse on the field, it worrisome and I was getting tired of it.

personally I don’t want a QB that was this bad and was making Superman celebration in week 17 after TD against the Jets. I think it shows a lack of self awareness. I have no problem with celebration but when you are this bad i don’t think you are in a position to make these kind of celebration like you are the best QB in the world.

Cam comment about how the patriots changed the calls when he had Covid rubbed me the wrong way. He missed only one practice when he had Covid and was part of virtual meetings.

It’s great to have a great attitude but at the end of the day what matters is if you can play and Cam can’t. If Mac is better than Cam, the teams will not care about Cam great attitude they will want Mac to play because they want to win.

Did you see how much COVID affected Jayson Tatum? He started out strong....got hit with COVID...and barley averaged 25ppg for about 6-7 weeks....before finally finishing the season strong with 3 50+ point performances in the last 8 weeks of the season.

 

[203Pat]

Did you see how much COVID affected Jayson Tatum? He started out strong....got hit with COVID...and barley averaged 25ppg for about 6-7 weeks....before finally finishing the season strong with 3 50+ point performances in the last 8 weeks of the season.

Cam wasn't good before he got Covid.

 

[Hyped]

So you cherry pick the stats you like and ignore the ones you don’t. He averaged under 200 passing yards a game. He threw 8 TD’s all year. These numbers are bad 20 years ago. Today they are horrific. Honestly if he does start this year I don't know if he can possibly be worse so I guess there is nowhere to go but up.

He also had 12 rushing TD's. He'll never be "Air Cam"...it is what it is, but no reason he cannot revert back to his 2018 stat line:

14 games, 67.9% completion rate, 3,395 passing yards, 24 passing TDs, 13 INTs, 448 rushing yards, and 4 rushing TD's.

I think that is his floor this year with our current personnel and having a year+ in our offensive system.

 

[Hyped]

I don't see "hate" at all. Hate is without reason or analysis.

I see a lot of not wanting to see him continue to get starts if all he can do is more "single wing" type offense with an occasional throw. How the coaching staff was able to coax 7 wins out of a team that legitimately had mostly young players/role players, no weapon depth beyond RB, injuries to OL and WR, still amazes me - that was a 3-4 win team. Some of those wins were Cam - and his legs and desire mostly (and honestly a couple losses too because he tried to do too much).

I said it last year - he was the bridge guy. Someone had to follow the GOAT and honestly getting seven wins with that team and that pressure...no issues.

That said, it's not the bridge year anymore. This is a legitimate playoff/fringe playoff team on paper (barring injuries, FAs not working out, Gilmore, etc). The league has seen the "Wildcat Part Deux" Cam offense and will not be surprised by it again. If cannot better balance pocket QBing with both a traditional and QB running offense - it's not hate - it's inevitability. Single aspect offenses don't last in the NFL. Never have.

Fair enough. I am fine with Cam being the bridge guy...and it is still a bridge year, IMO. Look, I hope Mac is the REAL DEAL....but he is a rookie any way you cut it. Brady sat a year, Mahomes sat for 15 games, Rodgers sat for 2 seasons, and the best rookie seasons for NFL QB's are few and far between like Marino, Roethlisberger, Prescott, Russ WIlson, and even Cam Newton.....

And the single wing offense would have worked better with a better run D last year, IMO. As you said, Newton had to try to do too much....he'll have much more help this year for sure and not be put in position to "do too much" often this year.

 

[Hyped]

No he didn't. Why does this myth persist? He hasn't been good since 2015.

2018 Carolina Panthers Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2018 Carolina Panthers Roster, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[Hyped]

Cam wasn't good before he got Covid.

I beg to differ. We had a working offense that won us two games against two teams that were almost in the playoffs last year and that game in Seattle where Edelman had his big performance.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The Patriot Way is dead.

There‘s an economic/salary cap Patriot Way which was very interesting and effective for a long time. It involved a supply and demand approach to personnel, depth over superstars, and some other unique decisions. Spending money on the best red zone defenders…spending huge on undervalued shutdown CBs…cheaping out on skill positions since your quarterback makes them better anyway. The Patriots used to find exceptional value in free agency and the draft; they also used to fleece teams on draft value. To me, that’s the Patriot Way.

Then there’s the idea that with film preparation, opponent specific strategies, discipline, work ethic, role players, equal opportunity to play, etc. the Patriots have done something unique. This is not true. They’ve used the same concepts as basically every football team going back even before Paul Brown and frankly every sports team. They’re just done it very well - maybe better than anyone else - and winning tends to highlight it. So, half credit on this one…a very common set of rules/processes but executed well.

Then there’s the truly cultish aspect of it, which is basically trying to correlate anything unique to them as some kind of magical formula even though it’s not. Being tight lipped to the press about injuries, Belichick’s personality quirks, the untrue and misunderstood idea that a great WR is unnecessary, the idea that other teams trash talking actually made any difference, the idea that they have a magic process for developing players, especially QBs, the belief that their system on offense is plug n play, etc. These seem to be flooding the forum now because the first two paragraphs have largely been caught up to by other teams in the league, and the Patriots no longer have the ultimate ace up their sleeve.

 

[catent]

Assuming one of Jones or Newton can put together a half-decent season, I'm looking forward to these nonsense takes about the Patriots not being good at football going to rest.

 

[Lavictoire]

His Jackie O impersonations are old. It wouldn't bother me as much if he could still play.

It screams "look at me!" but does he really want that much scrutiny the way he plays?

 

[Brotherblues]

He also had 12 rushing TD's. He'll never be "Air Cam"...it is what it is, but no reason he cannot revert back to his 2018 stat line:

14 games, 67.9% completion rate, 3,395 passing yards, 24 passing TDs, 13 INTs, 448 rushing yards, and 4 rushing TD's.

I think that is his floor this year with our current personnel and having a year+ in our offensive system.

That was good enough for a Pro Bowl in the 90s. In 2018 it was only good enough to be in the neighborhood of 18th to 20th best overall among his peers (per DYAR, TQBR, DVOA).

 

[203Pat]

I beg to differ. We had a working offense that won us two games against two teams that were almost in the playoffs last year and that game in Seattle where Edelman had his big performance.

So one okay game, one good(ish) game, and one bad game throwing the ball against some almost good teams is what you're looking for? People aren't just trashing Cam because they don't like him. People are trashing Cam because he was probably the worst QB in the league last year. Excuses about coming in late, getting Covid, changing calls, aside his body is breaking down on him. No real way around it.

 

[Jim Beankie]

The Cam led offense that opened the season against Miami was a great ball control offense. Who knows what the shoulder/COVID did to him. But with all these new weapons, I'm looking forard to seeing what they can do. 10 plus play drives, it may harken us back to the glory days of "Clock killin Corey Dillon".

While at times, Cam's play and particually his passing has been bad. His attitude and commitment has been stellar. His teammates love him, and that goes very far on the football field.

I say give Cam a chance, he just might suprise you.

If I remember correctly, the Pats were something like 2nd in the league to the Chiefs in average yards per drive until the late season implosion. To paraphrase Lazar, moving without finishing. They might as well have been playing with Blue Balls.