Philip Rivers wrote:How do you think they fair down their remaining stretch? What place are you predicting they end up within the division as well?
I would be genuinely
shocked if they finished with more than 7 wins. I don't give them a chance in the world to go on the road and beat New Orleans or Philadelphia, so they would have to win their 5 other games to hit 8 and they flat out aren't a good enough team to go on a 5-2 run despite what appears to be a relatively easy final stretch (for a good team, anyway; Carolina isn't a good team). In terms of PPG, 25th ranked offense and 26th ranked defense while being 26th in point differential (-59) while having lost by double digits in
44% of their games this year... they are a bottom 5 NFL team.
I forgot the thread but the serious issues I noted with the team before the season are coming out at full force. So it doesn't completely surprise me at this point but admittedly I thought maybe they would be able to overcome their talent deficiency when they started off 2-0 including a dominant victory over Detroit. But coaching and talent has fucked them. So I can't see them beating out New Orleans for the division. Atlanta and Tampa Bay are arguably bottom 5 teams too though, so I'm not sure where they finish exactly. Safe bet is 2nd.
Where do you see Cam at the end of the year in terms of play?
Hard to say. It is hard to get a feel of what went wrong with him this year. Not that I believe it is all on him, I don't, and not that I didn't know he had severe accuracy issues, I did. His frustrating mechanics and tendency to throw high has always been evident but the past couple of weeks versus how he looked coming off his injury is just night and day.
I've speculated on another forum that the big issue here is how the coaching staff is treating him. Not to say Newton isn't at fault as well, his performance against New Orleans is inexcusable, but I don't think it is a coincidence that Newton's accuracy plummeted the moment we went back to running him as if he was our running back. Despite missing Week 1 and being limited upon his return, Newton leads all QBs in rushing attempts.
Newton in his first 4 games back had a combined 14 carries (nearly all of them were scrambles) for 42 yards. During that stretch, he looked better than I ever saw him as a passer. 61% (with multiple drops taking down that figure), 983 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, 94 QB Rating.
Newton in his last 4 games has a had
43 (think about that for a second) carries for 215 yards, a majority of them designed runs up the middle. During this stretch, he has regressed every week as a passer, 53%, 811 yards, 3 TDs, 4 INTs, 68 QB Rating.
I'm beginning to think Cam Newton is becoming shell shocked. To add on to the pounding he is taking in the run game, with injuries piling on week by week (remember, he is coming off cracked ribs and offseason surgery on his ankle and has suffered an elbow and hand injury this year hence why his hand has been taped up), his offensive line is bottom three in the NFL with zero continuity in the starting lineup due to injuries, not as if the starters are any good to begin with. Mike Shula has become over-reliant on the read option as we have completely gotten rid of a traditional run offense with 90% of our run calls being the read option, a predictable offense that is not sustainable against NFL defenses.
I guess I kind of went off on a tangent there, but my point is that I think a lot of things will come into play to determine how Newton finishes the year off. Of course, again I'm not trying to take the blame off of him. I'm tired of Cam Newton's inconsistencies with his accuracy only because I know what he is capable of. I've seen him make some of the best throws in the NFL when his feet are set in the pocket and he is taking his time with his reads. But then you get how he looks against New Orleans where everything is high and he is rushing it, whether it is because he is starting to feel pressure that sometimes isn't there (David Carr'd) or he is still struggling with his mechanics. I think it is a mixture of both. Ultimately the talent around him will remain the same, I don't think Shula is competent enough to fix his playcalling, and Newton isn't going to fix his mechanics overnight or suddenly become un-shell shocked.
But ignoring all the outside factors, Cam Newton has to just fight through it all and calm down in the pocket. I didn't watch the Seattle game because I was out (heard it didn't look good for him in the second half, though) but how he has looked against Green Bay and New Orleans is inexcusable. His accuracy and footwork has got to get better. So I figure in terms of play he probably won't look as bad as he did vs. New Orleans but also not as good as he did in his 4 game stretch before the Cincy game either. Middle of the pack.
