CHA_CHING

Did not know this. I figured he was healthy going into this season.

Now this explains why he isn't running this year.

ScottF

Good result for us:
-no way Riverboat Ron lasts the season- the panthers are known for folding and may pack it in earlier than usual
-this crappy team almost beat the Rams- gotta feel good about this week
-we'll struggle like we always do against TB but we are double-digits better than them

jeanpierre

Yeah, but was he ever really an accurate passer? Sure, he had great passer ratings when he was chucking it downfield for a receiver to make a big gain, but has he ever surgically moved down the field as a passer...

I'm not a Panthers fan nor a Drama Queen fan so I admittedly don't watch him often with the exception of when he plays the Saints and featured games, playoffs...

But in the games I've watched him, about maybe twenty or so, I've never seen him pick apart a defense with accuracy...

CHA_CHING

Cam had some big games against us in the past where Carolina had put up 30+ points and took us to the wire.

I've always dreaded playing the Rivera/Newton Panthers cause they are so unpredictable. At least with Atlanta and Tampa Bay, you have a sense of what to expect. Cam is an up and down, hot and cold quarterback. You never know which version of him is going to show up game to game. On the defensive side, Carolina had some great games against us at various points where they could completely shut our offense down. I don't doubt Brees when he said Kuechley was the best LB he's ever faced.

st thomas

Steven A says the not done he’s not done. But almost done , he was so funny about it.

K Major

Saw a recent stat on Fig Newton ...

Last 4 games - 3 INT's, 2 fumbles and 0 TD's. Those type numbers will get his HC fired.

Unfortunately, we won't face the Panthers until late November.

jeanpierre

In those games Ching, it was deep pass plays against DBs that gave up the big pass play or Cam and his RBs ran on us - he never methodically picked apart a defense...

SmashMouth

FinSaint

Who knows... If Cam is ready to pack it in like Luck did, the Panthers might give the Dolphins a run for their money on getting Tua Tagovailoa in next year's draft.

His body language in the game and in the post-game interviews were not good - doesn't seem like a guy who is enjoying playing the game at the moment.

CHA_CHING

His biggest game against us came in 2015, I had to look it up.

41-38 loss for us in the dome. That game. You know the one where we got all the horrible calls that led to Carolina's comeback.... We were spanking them and then it all turned around on us after some horrible calls.

Newton had 331 yards and 5 TD passes in that game. Carolina had 104 yards in penalties alone.

The 2015 Panthers are a weird team statistically. There was evidence to suggest they were the worst team to ever start 8-0. They were Jekyll and Hyde all season; blowing out teams one week, then barely squeaking by to horrible teams they should've been blowing out. They also gave up big leads (see their game vs the Giants and in the playoffs vs Seattle) which is not a good stat for a SB contender, let alone a team that finishes 15-1. I remember telling people all year that Carolina was benefiting from the rest of the NFC South being trash that year and a truly bad NFC. This was also the season Arizona went 13-3 but got destroyed in the playoffs and never really looked that great after the half way point of the season. Green Bay started out 5-0, got destroyed by Denver and that began the decline of Aaron Rodgers. The AFC was better that year with Denver, New England, Pittsburgh and Cincy looked like a legit contender before Dalton's injury.

At the end of the year, Cam had his most dominant stretch as a passer. Starting in week 13 vs us and leading up to the SB, he was averaging around 250-300 passing yards, his completion percentage shot up to around 73.1% and he only threw 2 INTs during that time span. He still ended up having a dud game against Atlanta, but this stretch of games was the big argument in why he won MVP that year.

Slightly off topic - 2015 truly was a weak year for MVP. Cam won it mostly cause his team was 15-1 and unbeatable. But in that year, Peyton Manning was a shell of his former self and this was the season Aaron Rodgers' massive decline began. Brees had a great year but the Saints were 7-9 and on the other side of the ball, Von Miller should've been in consideration but no one wants to give the award to a defensive player.

And yet despite that, we all know how it ended once they got to the SB. Cam turned back into his old self after getting hit a few times by the Broncos defense... Carolina went that whole year not playing any physical defenses, then slammed into a brick wall the minute they had to face a nasty unit that wasn't scared to hit them hard.