Entering Week 9
Panthers Nation was riding a high brought about by three straight weeks of blowout wins while the rest of the nation was casting a wary eye at Carolina. True, the team had beaten its most recent opponents 96-38, but those opponents were the bottom feeders of the league. Little credit was given to beating a 1-6 Minnesota Vikings, 3-5 St. Louis Rams nor a 0-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
As the Panthers looked ahead to playing Atlanta at the halfway point in the season there were many questions as to what exactly this team was. Were they the 4-3 riser that not only beat the teams they should but did so in dominating fashion? Or were they the 1-3 squad from the first quarter of the season that had yet to learn how to hold leads and beat teams that refused to beat themselves?
As the offensive guards and defensive backs, considered a weakness in August, dropped like flies in September and October the team soldiered on. Could an astounding front seven beat competent offenses? When would Riverboat Ron's desperate attempts to save his job by going all-in cost him? Would it ever?
And Cam....
The ever polarizing Cam Newton was as big an enigma as ever. His superhuman athleticism and wheels were undeniable - but where was his head and his arm? Now entering his 40th game he hadn't thrown for 400 yards since his two game debut in 2011. He had only thrown for 300 yards five other times and had a 1-4 record in those, including just four weeks earlier when he posted his second lowest QBR at Arizona, 5.7, with zero touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Everyone knew when things were going well, as with the current win streak, that he could capitalize on the momentum. But when the team was struggling could he become a leader? When would he find a way to win when all the favors beckoned the team to lose?
All of these questions, in the mouths of the pundits, the trolling of opposing fans and the back of the minds of most of the Black and Blue faithful seemed destined to wait for another week. Carolina was not facing a team that could shine a light on these questions. Nay, they were facing a 2-5 Atlanta Falcons squad that had no Roddy White, no Julio Jones, no line on either side of the ball and virtually no hope. There was little to be gained with a win for Carolina's national reputation but everything to be lost.
The Game
It started as a sloppy game on both sides. First both teams went three and out on their inaugural drives. Then Matt Ryan threw an interception, in crowded coverage, to Luke Kuechly. Carolina, starting on the Atlanta 39 yard line, did manage to score but the play that gained the most yards was due to pass interference. The one mainstay for the Panthers, the ferocious front line, couldn't manage to get to the quarterback and although Atlanta had only one threat on the field, Tony Gonzalez, he managed to be open most of the time. Adding insult to injury, Carolina allowed a first half touchdown for the first time all year on a 14 yard pass to the future Hall of Famer.
At halftime Carolina led 14-10 but there were few on either side that would feel good about how they looked on the field. Most concerning is that Cam Newton had two interceptions in the half and more off target throws, many of his patented "too high" variety. Avid followers of the Panthers and Cam's career knew what this foretold. Cam had never won a game when throwing 2 or more interceptions. Nine tries and nine failures.
The third quarter played out in a very pedestrian fashion. Graham Gano managed to widen the lead to 17-10 on an early FG but otherwise the two teams traded off long but immaterial drives with little result in field position.
So we enter the fourth quarter when suddenly the play of the game occurs. Is it Cam? No. Is it the defense? No. Is it good or bad? Both!
From the Atlanta 38, Cam finds Brandon LaFell with separation on a short pass to his right. Lafell snatches the ball out of the air at the ATL 33 and deftly (Yes, I said LaFell did something "deftly" - it gets even more bizarre) avoids a tackle at the 21 and has nothing but green in front of him. Then his defender, Asante Samuel, catches him and punches the ball out of his grip. A sure game breaking play was going to turn into another brutal loss ('tis the burden we carry as Panther fans). But NO! In a manner unfamiliar to Panther fans, even though Samuel had LaFell pinned to the ground at the spot of the tackle, the ball miraculously bounced back into Brandon's reach and he hauled it in for a recovery.
See the play here at the 1:34 minute mark.
Cam would score from 8 yards out on the next play. Little over half a minute later Drayton Florence would salt away the victory with a 38-yard pick six. There was still game to be played technically but this one was over.
Moving forward
So the Panthers moved to 5-3 and, with a New Orleans Saints loss to the New York Jets, just one game out of first place in the NFCS. Five wins and all with scores in the 30's. While most were discussing the Panthers unexpected pinball scoring it was our own Buck55 that saw the real majesty in the win:
"First time Cam has thrown 2+ INT and we have won the game, 0-8 in last attempts."
[Side note- It was actually 0-9. It was 0-8 in his first two seasons but the Week 5 game versus Arizona took it to 9 straight losses in such scenarios.]
And in response truethought knew what it told:
Maturity...Cam did a good job of not going into the tank...
In a season where a great deal of lip service was given to Riverboat Ron and the amazing front seven it may well be that the most pivotal difference in the team was that Cam Newton shed his bad sideline demeanor when things weren't going well for him. For the first time in his career he won despite making mistakes both in turnovers and in inaccuracy. In past seasons those misfires would have sent him into a sulking, towel covered heap on the bench. In the offseason Cam addressed his poor attitude in losses. He told of how his family and friends let him know how it looked but he also saw how it represented his state of mind.
Before, he was allowing the emotions and bad bounces dictate to him how his day was going. This year he was going to take charge. And with a more steely mental state he did not erase all the miscues but he did not let them define him. He rose above them and the Football Gods showed their approval with a touch of luck - right into the hands of a prone Brandon Lafell.
And this was the test. Most agree that Cam can dominate on the days when he lives up to his Superman persona, as he had the previous three games posting a 77 completion percentage, 8 TD-0 INT stat line. The knock was that he was fragile emotionally, allowing his frustrations and less than perfect outings to snowball into losses. Until this day against the Atlanta Falcons he had done nothing to disprove that opinion.
This game was the birth of the Cam Newton we were promised. If it was the new found faith in him by Ron Rivera or the safety net of a great defense or just him looking inward and shear willpower, Newton, who in his first two years had thrown 19 interceptions to only 14 TDs in the second halves of games, would have a season with a 13 TD-3 INT 2nd half record with a 99.6 quarterback rating. This was the first crackling voice of maturity that the Newton detractors had doubts would ever come.
Now if he could parlay this emergent maturity and composure into some 4th quarter comebacks on game winning drives....
Spoiler alert: Stay Tuned for -"Cam has a run of 4th quarter comebacks on game winning drives!"
Excelsior!
Editor's Note: This series is a flashback of the 2013 season game by game by new, aspiring applicant authors to CSR. If you find one that you think is well written please give it a Rec. We will use the Rec as one of the measures to evaluate and select our new authors.