FanPost

"NO MORE EXCUSES"

There is always hope for every NFL team as a new football season begins, and so it goes with the Carolina Panthers as well! Many fans believe once again that the Carolina Panthers will be playoff bound as Christmas rolls around in 2018! And while I can hope, too; history and experience tells me the Panthers will not be among those NFL teams playoff bound this year!

While my hat is off to Marty Hurney for what He and his staff did in this year’s draft along with Coach Ron Rivera finally making a change in the offensive coordinator with the addition of Norv Turner, I simply don’t believe the biggest issue has been addressed with the Panthers, which is why I don’t believe the Panthers will make the playoffs! That issue is the starting Quarterback of the Carolina Panthers.

Cam Newton is the physically most gifted athlete to ever play the position of quarterback in the NFL. He was the guy I wanted when the Panthers drafted in with the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He has driven NFL defensive players crazy in trying to contain him in the run game. He has been a great NFL citizen and a superb role model for every kid to look up to, and I admire Cam for all He has done for charity. But while Cam has been a wonderful Carolina Panther in many ways, He has deficiencies in his game that make him not an elite quarterback or not a even a top fifteen quarterback in the league! Among these deficiencies are passing accuracy, foot work in passing, decision making, failure to handle pressure well from rush, time of possession, and turnovers from interceptions and fumbles! These are skills that go to the very heart of what makes a great quarterback. Cam in 2017, as in years past ranked at the bottom of the NFL in quarterback ratings. His only consistent top ten ranking of quarterbacks that Cam makes is in the area of interceptions. I can hear those that are reading this going into the "blame game" claiming the receivers and the offensive line are the reasons for Cam's woes! And while I still have no clue why in the world Dave Gettleman would have given Matt Kalil $55 million contract or even $55,000 as the starting left tackle of the Carolina Panthers, it is still no excuse for Cam’s failures to improve his game as a passing quarterback!

I have called for the past two years for the Panthers to trade Cam to the Cleveland Browns for a handful of draft choices that could have been used for a new starting quarterback and other needed positions. But that was to no avail, and an opportunity the Carolina Panthers will live to regret!

However, I do believe the Panthers’ patience with Cam’s passing deficiencies have an "end date" being put on them to improve or Cam will be gone either by trade or not resigning him. We all saw what Ted Guinn, Jr. said about Cam’s accuracy as a passer once he left the Panthers, and then there was the "three ring circus" by former Panther, Kelvin Benjamin over Cam’s passing ability during this year’s preseason game with Buffalo. While there was no question that Benjamin handled all the hoopla over the issue poorly, Benjamin, like it or not, backed it up in his play during that game! Even more impressive was the game by Buffalo Quarterback Nathan Peterman, who outplayed Cam in that game, and went on to achieving in excess of an eighty percent completion rating in the preseason for the Buffalo Bills to win the starting quarterback job for their team!

I hope Norv Turner is able to solve the deficiencies in Cam’s game and He is able to become the passing quarterback He should be for the Carolina Panthers. However, Cam needs to understand "NO MORE EXCUSES"! A new backup quarterback in Taylor Heinicke, and a total of four quarterbacks on the Carolina roster, the most ever in Panthers history, should be a clear message that the Panthers aren’t satisfied with Cam’s performance as starting quarterback of the Carolina Panthers. And if that isn’t clear enough, New Owner, David Tepper has said time and time again that He is all about winning. Cam, It is in your hands whether it will be with you or with someone else as the starting quarterback of the Carolina Panthers!

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