Cam Newton threw for 315 yards and two scores (and ran in a third touchdown as well), Greg Olsen had a career high 134 yards receiving, and Josh Norman sealed the win with an acrobatic 4th quarter interception, but enough about all of that. Here’s how you should feel about the Panthers’ 3-0 start, the first 3-0 start since the year the Patriots cheated Carolina out of a win in the Superbowl.
The game was way closer than it should have been. It was the best offensive performance of the year and the Panthers still almost lost. Why?
- Backup QB Luke McCown torched the defense because he’s better than Drew Brees, something you would have been clued into already if you’d watched our pre-game coverage.
- Referee Ed Hochuli is a Saints fan, probably. He called an absolutely awful game with most every questionable call going against Carolina.
- Cam Newton continues to be disrespected by, well, everyone. Newton was hit late out of bounds deep in Carolina territory with no flag because he’s big and strong and not weak and fragile like most NFL quarterbacks. Fox announcer and noted Panther-hater Ronde Barber claimed it was because Cam Newton is a “flopper”, but we’ll never know for sure because Fox never showed a replay. In fairness to Ronde, I’d hate football too if I went to Virginia.
With the Bucs on the schedule next week and a bye the week after that, the Panthers should be heading to Seattle with a 4-0 record and a defense who could use those next two weeks off to heal.
For more unbiased Panthers coverage, keep it locked on SportsChannel8 this week.
*** UPDATE ***
From Cam Newton’s post-game press conference, Ed Hochuli told Newton that he wasn’t “old enough” to get a roughing the passer call. Luke McCown is 34 which would explain the roughing the passer call against the Panthers in the 4th quarter where Hochuli explained “The defender took an extra step and pushed the quarterback.” It would have been more credible if he’d said “The quarterback is old, so I threw a flag.”
All I know is if I’m a Carolina sideline staff member, I’m texting Cam tonight to let him know I’ve made him a fake ID showing that he’s old enough to get flags like that. Then I’m sending a second text to tell him to smash his phone. I hear that’s a good practice for NFL quarterbacks.
https://vine.co/v/exx19htavZw/embed
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVzOzgnRlC4&w=560&h=315]
