N.Y. Newsday: Cam and Panthers pass SB 50 eye test

[Nomad82]

Quote

Sometimes, you just know.
You look at a team in any sport, in any era, and you just know this is their time. There may not be a specific way to quantify that feeling, because statistics can sometimes be misleading. But if you trust what you see, then you know what you’re looking at.

The Panthers are that team.

After breezing through the regular season with a 15-1 record, which included a 38-35 white-knuckler against the Giants late in the season, and then another hold-on-for-dear-life second half in a divisional-round win over the defending NFC champion Seahawks, the Panthers ride into the Super Bowl off a 49-15 destruction of a Cardinals team many thought were Super Bowl worthy.
Sometimes, you just know.
Like the 15-1 Bears team that Ron Rivera was a part of in 1985. The Panthers’ coach was a linebacker on that team, which may have been the most dominant single-season team in NFL history. The Bears not only beat you, they embarrassed you. They dominated you. They made it so you would never forget them.

Rivera’s team is close to that level, although not quite possessing the defensive brilliance of that Bears team. There has never been a defense quite like that — the Steelers of the late ’70s were dominant, just not as breathtakingly spectacular to watch — and Carolina’s defense does not have the pass rush that Rivera’s old team featured.
But Cam Newton has blossomed into the league’s most electrifying quarterback, and his command of the offense and 1,000-watt smile and personality are as good as it gets in this league. This is what you love to see from gifted athletes who begin their NFL journey thinking they may know it all but must go through the inevitable apprenticeship that can sometimes be painful to watch.
 

We’ve seen Newton go from the up-and-down quarterback in his formative years — the sideline sulking was impossible to miss — to the football magician he is today. He doesn’t have the greatest skill-position players to work with — remember, No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin has been out the whole season with a knee injury, and Newton has turned Ted Ginn into a playmaker who must make every previous team he played for scratch their heads in amazement. But Newton’s charisma as a person and a player is unmistakable.

Yes, he will rub some people the wrong way, folks who’d rather see their quarterbacks not be so demonstrative after big plays, especially touchdowns. And if he’s not for you, then fine. The rest of us will smile every time he throws or runs for a touchdown and provides his personal exclamation point by doing the “dab” — kissing his right forearm.
The celebratory move has caught on everywhere; even Jets owner Woody Johnson did some “dabbin’ ” after a win this season. So did Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who is about as uncool a dude as there is, but who couldn’t help himself after the Chiefs made the playoffs following a 1-5 start.
Newton is now one step away from completing a near perfect season, cementing his legacy as one of the league’s best performers and adding his name to the very short list of young quarterbacks who may end up dominating this league the way Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have done.
Newton is a vastly superior quarterback right now compared to Manning, a 39-year-old game manager who is barely holding on as his career winds down. And it would be a shock if Newton does anything less than put together another signature performance when the quarterbacks meet Feb. 7 in Super Bowl 50.
 

If the Broncos have any hope of winning, it is because of a defense that may be the only one in the NFL that can solve the riddle that is Newton. This game is about Newton vs. pass rushers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, because that’s the only path to victory for the Broncos. If Miller and Ware do to Newton what they did to Brady in Sunday’s 20-18 win over the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, then there is certainly the chance for an upset.

Miller and Ware were shades of ’85 Bears pass rushers Richard Dent and Dan Hampton on Sunday, and the Panthers’ offensive line cannot afford the kind of meltdown the Patriots endured on Sunday in Denver. But judging from the way the Panthers manhandled the Seahawks in the divisional playoffs, there will not be the kind of clear path to Newton as there was to Brady.
So if Manning is forced to go toe-to-toe with Newton, it is not a winnable fight. Not unless Newton picks the wrong time for a bad game. The dazzling young quarterback has been up to the challenge all season, so there’s no reason to think he will be blinded by the bright lights of the Super Bowl.
He has the look. The Panthers have the look.
Sometimes, you just know.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/bob-glauber/super-bowl-50-eye-test-cam-newton-panthers-look-like-champs-1.11390178

[JawnyBlaze]

very nice article.

[PhillyB]

damn, i would be pissed if i was a broncos fan reading this stuff

[Jimmy]

I can't keep up with all the news articles...going to the SB means every major newspaper and magazine is writing one.  I've read more words in the last 3 days than I've read in the last 10 years and I used to grade research papers for a living.  I'm exhausted...but wouldn't trade it for anything.

[heelinfine]

That Ray Barone is a hell of a sports writer.......

All jokes aside, thanks for the awesome article.

[Chaos]

34 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

I can't keep up with all the news articles...going to the SB means every major newspaper and magazine is writing one.  I've read more words in the last 3 days than I've read in the last 10 years and I used to grade research papers for a living.  I'm exhausted...but wouldn't trade it for anything.

Agreed.  For all the times we've suffered from thirst of media coverage, we're now drowning in it. 

[caatfan]

55 minutes ago, Chaos said:

For all the times we've suffered from thirst of media coverage, we're now drowning in it. 

That's OK. I'm a good swimmer. For this sort of special occasion I'll read or watch anything Panthers related.