Pats Blogger: Cam Newton Aced Belichick's Exam

[Peppers90 NC]

yep. also every week i keep seeing as the "keys to winning the game" for opposing teams is to pressure cam, shut down the run, and make cam beat you with his arm.

 

you'd think at some point they would figure out he's just about as dangerous as a passer as he is a runner. you've got to respect the whole package because he is just that...the whole package.

 

i guess the are so enamored by his running ability they think he isn't a great passer.  it's almost comical to see each of our opponents fans say the same thing over and over and none of it ever works, at least during this streak.

[tondi]

The big play was always there, Shula and Cam are just mixing it up. 

 

The great QBs always have a knack for hitting the short and intermediate routes and once the safeties move up to take away those routes, then you go deep. 

 

We dont have a Calvin Johnson type who Cam can just throw it up to at ta whim

 

I also think the defenses are taking away the deep pass to force Cam to beat them with short to mid range accuracy which was probably one of his weaker passing areas over his first couple of years.  However, this season Cam has smartly taken what the defenses are giving him underneath and his accuracy has improved dramatically to the point this defensive strategy not only is proving ineffective, we are scoring just about every time we have the ball with long time consuming drives which crush the will of the other team.

 

In many ways, it's better for the other team to give up a 3 play scoring drive that takes up a minute than a 14 play drive that takes up 8 minutes and those 14 play drives have become our specialty this season.

[poorboysrev]

i think that has more to do with not having a true #1. he's playing within the team's ability and thats evident by us being a more methodical, TOP type offense than big play team in years past (because of smitty's ability).

 

we draft a prototypical #1 WR and i think we will see a return of the big play.

Exactly. With the Wr's and oline we have it would be foolish for him to try and rely on the long passes. Every game that we have tried to rely on our oline holding up on those routes we have lost. Also Cam has hit our Wr's on some deep passes(Smith, Ginn, Olsen), unfortunately we haven't held on to them. If we get Cam our version of an AJ Green, Dez, D Thomas, Calvin, or hell a Gronk or Graham and beef up our oline we will mix more of that in. I see no reason why Gettleman  can't address both this offseason. This season is tip of the iceberg

[fieryprophet]

Arizona is the only team that had success blitzing him

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And a lot of that had to do with our receivers getting mugged so he had nowhere to go with the ball, hence Smith's outburst at the officials afterwards.

[Fan01]

I think Ginn and Smith have the speed to run those deep routes.  I think the biggest problem and why we don't throw the long ball as much is the offensive line, teams defending it, and our offensive gameplan.

 

The O-line - It just can't hold up for long periods of time.  Or I should say certain parts of the line can't hold up in pass blocking.  Next year we get Gross back, Kalil in his prime, and Ameini is healthy.  We upgrade RG or RT, maybe both. 

 

Teams defend it - The NFL is always reacting to what an offense does and finds a way to shut things down.  They will always find a way to shut something down so offenses need to keep chaning it up.  In the first two years with Cam he was constantly throwing bombs.  Teams gameplanned to stop it.  Luckily Cam started throwing short stuff and other teams haven't responded to shut it down yet.

 

Gameplan - To be a complete player Cam had to shore up his ability to throw underneatch and read coverages.  He's learned that now.  Plus, Shula really wants to be balance so we're going to run more and be a little more traditional so even if there was more oppertunity to throw deep we would not do it as much as we did in Cam's first two years.

 

Cam has always had the tools but holy crap is he impressing the poo out of me right now.  I always thought he'd be a decent passer but I never expected him to get to a level where he just sits in the pockets and picks teams apart.  I know it's a lot but ever since we drafted him I've felt we got the Lebron James of the NFL. 

[Squirrel]

First part of the season Cam and Shula was trying to play the deep pass.  Problem was the plays took too long to develop and receivers weren't getting opened,  Once Cam started throwing the short passes we started winning.

[MadHatter]

First part of the season Cam and Shula was trying to play the deep pass.  Problem was the plays took too long to develop and receivers weren't getting opened,  Once Cam started throwing the short passes we started winning.

 

Everybody loves the deep ball and the big play....especially fans.

 

But, the fact is that the liklihood of hitting it is pretty low.  And, when you miss it you are then chasing the down and distance.

 

A balanced offense that mythodically moves down the field....chewing up clock...and scoring is by FAR the most potent.

 

Opposing teams get frustrated and make mistakes when they press.

[ajax4132]

I think Ginn and Smith have the speed to run those deep routes.  I think the biggest problem and why we don't throw the long ball as much is the offensive line, teams defending it, and our offensive gameplan.

 

The O-line - It just can't hold up for long periods of time.  Or I should say certain parts of the line can't hold up in pass blocking.  Next year we get Gross back, Kalil in his prime, and Ameini is healthy.  We upgrade RG or RT, maybe both. 

 

Teams defend it - The NFL is always reacting to what an offense does and finds a way to shut things down.  They will always find a way to shut something down so offenses need to keep chaning it up.  In the first two years with Cam he was constantly throwing bombs.  Teams gameplanned to stop it.  Luckily Cam started throwing short stuff and other teams haven't responded to shut it down yet.

 

Gameplan - To be a complete player Cam had to shore up his ability to throw underneatch and read coverages.  He's learned that now.  Plus, Shula really wants to be balance so we're going to run more and be a little more traditional so even if there was more oppertunity to throw deep we would not do it as much as we did in Cam's first two years.

 

Cam has always had the tools but holy crap is he impressing the poo out of me right now.  I always thought he'd be a decent passer but I never expected him to get to a level where he just sits in the pockets and picks teams apart.  I know it's a lot but ever since we drafted him I've felt we got the Lebron James of the NFL. 

Where would you rank Cam's arm and deep ball?

 

I have him top 5 in both

[Ken]

Newton I guess has statistically been really good against pressure all year long. I just need to find the advanced metrics I saw that back that up.

Cam has the 2nd highest accuracy % under pressure this season at 71%

[Fan01]

Where would you rank Cam's arm and deep ball?

 

I have him top 5 in both

 

No doubt Cam has a cannon for an arm and as long as his mechanics are there he's deadly accurate.  I've remember him drop  a 40-50 yard bomb on Smitty in one of the Atlanta games last year.  I mean, he just dropped it in the bucket with Smith in full stride with the CB right on Smith's back.  Perfect pass and I mean perfect.

 

But I've also seen him throw behind Ginn on a bomb play earlier this year. 

 

When his gets his footwork wrong or doesn't set his feet it doesn't matter if it's a short pass or long, the accuracy isn't as good.  He's much better at setting his feet for the long ball because you almost have to in order to throw it that far. 

 

Arm strength I'd say top 3.  Accurancy, maybe 10 but climbing.

[IamSoClutch]

our lack of big play not only come from lack of a true #1 WR but other teams game plan to make Cam beat them by driving down the field instead of the big play.