In retrospect, thank the maker that Cam Newton did not start

[twylyght]

Everyone talking about how a "healthy Cam would've altered the flow of the game" will now forever invoke the "healthy" qualifier with any statement.

The chances are high that "healthy" is a 50-50 proposition throughout the rest of Cam's career.  If you add in how the O-Line performs against elite defensive units, this becomes an even dicier prospect.  If you add in how a Cam-salary-hit against the cap is going to be prohibitive to bringing in and keeping elite O-Line talent, this makes the prospect even worse.

The political move of not putting out Cam has paid short-term dividends for the front office if they are intent on protecting Cam against a QB controversy.  God knows if they trotted him against SF the KA bandwagon would be calling for a full-on jettison of Cam immediately and grandstanding about a bright and shiny future with a game manager.

The hard facts are that this team was expected to perform poor offensively yesterday.  It was NOT expected that it would perform so horrendously bad defensively.  Without a miraculous turnaround, this is not a playoff team in the NFC.  At best, we are a upper-middle tier team that will have an occasional upset victory as well as the let down.

I don't know what better options are out there beyond the Turner and Rivera tandem.  I think that most of the prospects out there are speculative at best and will likely end up setting the organization back.

Whatever the case is going forward, yesterday's loss was a full-on kick to the nuts for anyone thinking that this team would be a contender.  If you think a healthy Cam is going to change that, then I've got nothin' for ya.

[Mr. Scot]

I think some folks are seriously underestimating just how completely outclassed we were yesterday.

[TheRed]

There's a reason why no other QB has been able to do the things Newton has done in the ground game the last ten years. It's why you are seeing pretty much every quarterback now sliding and shying away from contact.

We have invested a top 10 pick in our run game, and we have multiple running backs on the roster. Perhaps instead of expecting Newton or any other QB for that matter to be our personal bulldozer, we could actually task our backs with carrying the load. It's kinda what they're paid to do. Doesn't matter who is behind center, if your backfield isn't getting the job done you aren't winning much more often than not.

[twylyght]

1 minute ago, TheRed said:

There's a reason why no other QB has been able to do the things Newton has done in the ground game the last ten years. It's why you are seeing pretty much every quarterback now sliding and shying away from contact.

We have invested a top 10 pick in our run game, and we have multiple running backs on the roster. Perhaps instead of expecting Newton or any other QB for that matter to be our personal bulldozer, we could actually task our backs with carrying the load. It's kinda what they're paid to do. Doesn't matter who is behind center, if your backfield isn't getting the job done you aren't winning much more often than not.

Turning Cam into a pocket passer is taking away a key part of what made him an all-world threat.  Making defenses honor that threat opens up a whole range of options on offense that wouldn't be there otherwise.

[trueblade]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I think some are seriously underestimating just how completely  outclassed we were yesterday.

We cut the lead to 14 early in the 3rd and then SF ran it down our throats again. How many times did 26 waltz into the unzone touched by a Panther. It felt like three or four at least.

[rico6]

Who knows? Cam and the Panthers have stared down the barrel of large deficits only to rally back. Who’s to say that if the offense responds with 7 after Luke’s momentum shifting int yesterday that the game doesn’t change?

The game is also about momentum and things that don’t show in stats and video. 49ers were riding high when they realized we waved the white flag after halftime.

[trueblade]

1 hour ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Will be a hell of a DC for Jacksonville soon.

Or Atlanta. Wouldn't that be ironic? 

[mav1234]

 

3 minutes ago, rico6 said:

Walking away with 3 after Luke gifted the O with a short fieldin the 1st, honestly, is where the game got out of hand. No excuses for not putting up 7 when the 49ers had all momentum after the opening drive.

The 49ers give up less than 3 points per game off of turnovers, apparently.  We really needed the TD, but i dont think we get it with any QB. Abd honestly. Based on Q3, i think it doesn't slow the 49ers down at all... not like cutting it to a 2 score lead changed the game.

[ellis]

It was an absolute demolition. There was nothing fluke about it. It wasn’t blown coverages. It wasn’t bad calls left and right, although there were a few.

It was 51 points behind 38 rush attempts. 

Process that for a minute. They absolutely pounded Carolina into submission. That was nice that they got within 14, but how they responded after that was very telling. 

[TheRed]

5 minutes ago, twylyght said:

Turning Cam into a pocket passer is taking away a key part of what made him an all-world threat.  Making defenses honor that threat opens up a whole range of options on offense that wouldn't be there otherwise.

I didn't say remove that element entirely and turn him into a pure pocket passer. There's a difference between a handful of runs a game versus having to shoulder the run game entirely which he has done time and time again here including as recently as 2017 when he was our leading rusher after investing an 8th overall pick in the ground game.

You guys that tirelessly stan CMC and talk about "Cam only fans" can't have it both ways. Is CMC the league MVP only when we're winning? I already see a thread touting his overall yardage despite the fact we just got shithoused on the road in primetime again. But let's talk about all those "Cam fans" that are gonna jump ship 

[Ship]

SF may be the best in class of the NFC by a long shot. The stats putting them and NE’s defenses on a major top tier with ours on a more distant 2nd tier looks like the truth. I don’t feel bad about losing to them. Even if we had a good game and lost a close one, it’s just their year and they’re just that good. I think we stack up well against every other NFC team. It doesn’t matter. We need to beat GB and the Saints. We need to keep ATL under wraps and not let them squeak out a W. Let’s just get to the playoffs on our own and let SF battle the Saints or some other team and possibly lose.

[ellis]

18 minutes ago, TheRumGone said:

You don’t know me. Everything that I’ve said in this thread is logical. We’re talking about a healthy Cam here. Situations matter. How offenses game plan matter. You can’t just say the result would be the same because Kyle Allen does not equal Cam Newton. You know this. It’s factual and it’s not a diss at KA. We have stats and games to back that up. Kyle has kept our playoff hopes alive with managing the game. 

So how do you know with 100% certainty that Cam doesn’t change the dynamics of yesterday’s game. You don’t. That’s what I was getting to with Igo. Because he made blanket statements like it was fact. But of course words get twisted here and people try to save face. 
 

ive been a fan since 2003, so stop all that other nonsense. 

I wasn’t talking about you.

[raz]

6 minutes ago, rico6 said:

Who knows? Cam and the Panthers have stared down the barrel of large deficits only to rally back. Who’s to say that if the offense responds with 7 after Luke’s momentum shifting int yesterday that the game doesn’t change?

The game is also about momentum and things that don’t show in stats and video. 49ers were riding high when they realized we waved the white flag after halftime.

just stop it with that crap.   we got an int their d did what they were supposed to do.  they got an int and our d folded.   we got it within 14 with momentum in our favor with 11 minutes left in the 3rd.  our d folded.    our d let us down big time in this game.   its the easiest thing in the world for you to play the what if game with cam.   we'll never get that shitshow of a game back.   we will get cam back soon enough and then we get to see what happens.  the rest of our schedule is even harder than its been this far.  you'll have plenty of time to gloat if it all goes like you think.   

[TheRumGone]

1 minute ago, ellis said:

I wasn’t talking about you.

Yeah right.