Cam Newton Impressive vs the Green Bay Packers, but Comes up Short

Whew Doggy. NFL Mocks, unlike many analysts out there had Cam Newton has a top 10 player on our big board. We were a little concerned with his leadership and wondered if he had it, but knew that he had all the physical tools to succeed in the N.F.L. and early returns are impressive. I was against Cam Newton starting for the Panthers this year and thought it would behoove him to sit a year and learn the N.F.L. game while he developed chemistry with the young Wide receivers on his team, but the Panthers thought differently and very early on they look very right.

Cam Newton went 28 for 46 for a whopping 432 yards and a touchdown. This against a team that just won the Superbowl last year and has stars in the secondary like Nick Collins, Charles Woodson, and Tramon Williams. He also had 10 rushes for 53 yards and a touchdown. Now he did have three interceptions, twice being victimized by Charles Woodson, but early on he looks excellent. He’s making all the throws all over the field and is saying all the right things. Newton is making plays down the field, but also doing a great job of taking what the defense is giving him and taking the check downs, which is a very veteran like move. Unlike some players who live with the checkdowns as a young player, Newton is effectively utlizing the check downs, but still taking smart chances down the field. He’s far from a finished product, he did have three interceptions today after all, but early he looks excellent.

For the Green Bay Packers they start at 2-0 and are the clear favorites to win the Superbowl, but ther ehas to be some concern for the Packers. Last year the Packers were 5th in the league giving up an average of 194.2 yards per game. This year through two games they are getting lit up through the air. Last week they gave up 476 yards through the air to the Saints which is understandable: Drew Brees can make ANY defense look bad on any given night, but today even with the three picks they gave up another 400 plus yards through the air and another 23 points.

Luckily the Packers have Aaron Rodgers and he corrects a lot of mistakes. The Packers still look good, but it’s odd they are giving up so many yards because they are still generating pressure on the quarterback. Newton was sacked four times today and got Brees three times last week.

On the other side of the ball though the Packers look unstoppable.

For the Packers rookies, Randall Cobb wasn’t quite as impressive as the week before. Today he had 2 catches for 25 yards, but also lost a fumble, and averaged only 24 yards per kick return today as well. Rookies, Alex Green, Davon House, and Derek Sherrod were inactive.

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