Cam Newton Outshines Ryan Tannehill in Panthers Victory

What should we expect from Cam Newton in his sophomore season? Well, Carolina Panthers fans certainly hope we see much of the same of what we saw against the Miami Dolphins on Friday night, where Newton was dominant. He completed 8 of 11 passes with 119 yards and a touchdown, leading the Panthers to 17 first quarter points.

That is the kind of explosive offense Carolina fans could get used to, unlike what we saw from them last week against the Texans.

The story was not the same for Ryan Tannehill, who really struggled in his first start as a pro, completing just 11 of his 23 passes for 100 yards and no touchdowns. The Texas A&M product was also sacked three times, and just couldn’t get any rhythm going as the Dolphins didn’t score until well into the second quarter, but it was worth the wait if you are any kind of patient fan.

The Dolphins executed a few third-and-long pass plays on their way to a touchdown drive that was capped off by a Daniel Thomas touchdown run. It was a long road to get something going, but they looked solid on that drive led by Tannehill. The drive went for 15 plays and 71 yards, so that was the big positive to take from this game if you are a Miami Dolphins fan.

It was a rough outing also for Carolina quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who is safe to call a bust at this point. I know this isn’t a real game situation, but the Panthers were the worst team in the NFL with him at the helm, he can’t seem to find any rhythm in his game, and he obviously is running the third team behind Derek Anderson. He completed just four of his eight pass attempts last night for only 29 yards.

The Dolphins got a good look at some of their rookie receivers, with former Nevada star Rishard Matthews catching four passes for 39 yards and a touchdown, while Jeff Fuller of Texas A&M had four catches for 38 yard.