Carolina Panthers: Should Kyle Allen keep Cam Newton’s job?

Should Kyle Allen be the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers for the rest of the year with Cam Newton struggling and being out due to injury?

Cam Newton was the number one overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft and hasn’t been the same quarterback since injuring his shoulder in a game against the Steelers in 2018.

Linebacker T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers hit him in his right shoulder causing a fumble and a 10-yard loss on the play. Newton did play the rest of the game and went on to play five more games before sitting out the final two regular-season games last season.

The Carolina Panthers happened to lose six of those games before Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen each played a game to finish off the season. Heinicke ended up losing a game against Atlanta in week 16 but Allen beat a Saints team that was resting their starters in week 17.

Newton has lost all of his last eight starts including six games last season and two this season. Looking back at Newton’s stats during that eight-game span his numbers for yards, and completion percentage weren’t off much from the first eight games of the season, but there were obvious differences in how he played.

One difference was the fact Newton was pressured more and he took more hits and sacks during that losing streak. Newton was sacked 21 times during the eight-game losing steak compared to only 12 times the previous eight games where he had a record of 6-2 during that span. Also during Newton’s losing streak, he threw 10 interceptions as opposed to only throwing four interceptions during his 6-2 run to start 2018.

Now it’s not all Newton’s fault for losing these games though the hit to his shoulder has really affected him throwing the ball. Not only last season, but he has continued to struggle in his first two games of 2019. Newton has thrown costly interceptions and hasn’t been able to make the same accurate throws he used to make. Newton has missed wide open receivers and thrown the ball short on multiple occasions, and I think it has to do with his shoulder not being fully recovered.

Kyle Allen has played in three games (season finale last year, and week three and four matchups this year) and was able to win all of these games and provide the Panthers with a much-needed spark. Allen has been accurate with his throws and has over a 70% completion percentage which has been key to the Panthers turning it around from an 0-2 start to now being 2-2 at the first quarter-point of the season.

Allen has 759 yards and six touchdowns in three career NFL games, with his best performance coming last week against Arizona throwing four touchdowns and having a passer rating of 144.4. The biggest thing for Allen is that he’s winning football games, which was something Newton hadn’t been doing and you have to ride with the hot hand at quarterback.

Allen has the chance to keep proving himself because Newton had a mid-foot sprain that has bothered him since week three of the preseason. This will keep him out of action for 4-8 weeks and the Panthers shouldn’t be in any hurry to get Newton back on the field with Allen winning football games and playing at a high level.

Allen may just be what the Carolina Panthers need to make a run at the postseason this year in a division that is wide open with the Drew Brees injury for the Saints and the struggling 1-3 Atlanta Falcons.