Bill Barnwell sees it too.

[PantherBrew]

 

PACKERS (-7) over Panthers

If I had to pick somebody as the most spectacular quarterback in football, I’d have to choose Aaron Rodgers. It’s surreal to see what Rodgers can do sometimes; nobody snaps off 40-yard passes while his body’s moving in the opposite direction in between steps like Rodgers. The touchdown pass he threw to Randall Cobb last week was just unfair, which is classic Rodgers.

You know who might represent a pretty good competitor for Rodgers? Cam Newton, who has been one of the best quarterbacks in football this year with virtually nothing around him. All of his running backs are hurt. His offensive line sucks. Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin, his two best receivers, are dealing with injuries. That should be a problem for Newton. It’s not, because he isn’t operating in a space where things that are typically problems matter. Let’s look at a critical fourth-quarter drive from last week’s tie with the Bengals to see how that works.

It’s normally a problem if your right tackle disintegrates into ash in front of you on third-and-7, right? Not so much if you’re Cam Newton.

That’s incredible. The Bengals have Carlos Dunlap treat right tackle Nate Chandler like he’s a prop and green-dogging linebacker Vontaze Burfict run past stumbling right guard Trai Turner. If Newton takes one false step, he’s toast. Instead, with the entire right side of his offensive line on their ass, Newton casually takes a half-step back from Dunlap, scrambles intelligently away from what is now a flock of four Bengals, blows up Wallace Gilberry’s angle of pursuit, and casually glides to the sticks for a huge first down.

You like passes? What about passes on fourth down? Those are even more fun, right? Here’s Newton at the helm of the riverboat:

That’s insane. I chose the broadcast angle over the All-22 angle for the GIF because I wanted to point out that even the hard camera operator couldn’t believe this pass got through. The Bengals have the exact play call they were hoping for here, with man coverage with several underneath zones designed to take away the throwing lanes for a slant. They get a pair of slants on the strong side. The defender on the inside slant, recognizing that Newton is going for the backside slant to Benjamin, comes off his man to try to jump the route. The zone defender sees the pass developing and tries to get over. Even Terence Newman, the cornerback in coverage on Benjamin, can see the pass coming.

And none of it matters one bit, because Newton fires a slant in to Benjamin so hard and with such perfect timing that there’s nothing anybody can do. The pass has such velocity that the defenders trying to tip it away don’t make it into the air for their despairing dives until the ball is already past them. The hard camera does a double take. Newman doesn’t even have a prayer of getting in the way of the pass. The only hope is that Benjamin drops the pass or that George Iloka can jar the ball out with a big hit, and Newton puts such zip on the pass that Benjamin has enough time to catch it and brace himself for impact.

This isn’t last year’s Panthers. The defense, third in DVOA last year, is28th through six weeks. Injuries and retirements have slowed the running game, Newton aside, to a crawl; after averaging 3.9 yards per carry last year, Carolina’s assorted running backs have produced just 2.8 yards per rush this year. They’re a flawed team in a flawed division. Given that they needed a missed chip shot to come away with a draw in Cincinnati last weekend, they’re probably lucky to be 3-2-1. Of course, they’re also lucky to have Newton as their quarterback.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nfl-week-7-picks-it-can-only-go-up-from-here/

 

Hard to argue with him here. 

[nctarheel0619]

I remember that pass, Sunday.  I was like fug, we didn't get it.  Then I was like   

[WhoAmI?]

That dude knows his stuff.

[WhoAmI?]

I remember that pass, Sunday.  I was like fug, we didn't get it.  Then I was like   

 

That camera angle really fuged me up lol I swear I thought he intercepted it.

 

[London Loves Luke]

Lol @ Chandler in the first GIF. 

[SpeedOFLight]

I had no idea KB caught the ball. The play was so quick that it tricked the camera man. Great play!

[iamcline]

lmao @ Disintegrated into ash.  That pretty much sums up Chandler on that play.

[ctrcat]

Last year after the Cardinals game and 1-3 start, many ignoramuses such as Marc James from WFNZ among others stated he wasn't even a franchise QB, while I posted here repeatedly after that game that I wouldn't trade Cam for anyone in the HISTORY OF FOOTBALL.  This guy, Bill Barnwell, had a hugely supportive and factual article about Cam at that time amidst the chitstorm.  Fast forward one year, Barnwell with another fantastic article, and of course, I wouldn't trade Cam for anyone in the HISTORY OF FOOTBALL.

[CPF4LIFE]

No other QBs O lineman is getting ran over like that and still being able to produce behind it. Its gotten to the point i dare people to try to argue with me about how good Cam is.

[tiger7_88]

No other QBs O lineman is getting ran over like that and still being able to produce behind it. Its gotten to the point i dare people to try to argue with me about how good Cam is.

 

 

You know there are many die-hards that are perfectly willing to do so, right?

[rayzor]

Lol @ Chandler in the first GIF.

so what happens when your big solution for handling the OL is moving a crappy RT to the even more important position of LT and you replace the crappy RT with a guy who has never settled down to any position on either side of the ball but you like him because he's big?

i think that gif just showed us.

[TheRumGone]

i see it too

[Sam Mills Fan]

I think it's complete bullshit that people are now pretending like Cam hasn't been awesome and has been improving every year. Was he not an awesome quarterback last year that singlehandedly won us some games? Look at his career stats already and compare them to the greats. Cam hasn't suddenly become elite, he's been elite all along. If you're an analyst that is just now noticing, that's YOUR problem.

[AceMan]

Jeez, our right side of the line...