While the Broncos were chasing Newton around in the second half, they made helmet-to-helmet contact at least four times.
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Here are five takeaways from Denver’s 21-20 win over Carolina.
“We’ve got to treat Cam like a quarterback”, Olsen said.
“I try to warn the refs every time I do get hit in the head”. We go up at halftime, come back with the football. “We saw him limping throughout the game so that running stuff, you can’t do that all game”. From the sounds of it, while Stewart’s hit on Newton was reviewed on film, it doesn’t seem as if any trainers specifically checked Newton for concussion-like symptoms. Cam Newton hit Kelvin Benjamin for a 14-yard touchdown on the team’s first drive.
“It’s not my place to question the officials”, Newton said. “I really like this officiating crew, so it wasn’t something I know they did intentionally”. And as a result, he took multiple hard hits to the head, but managed to stay in for the entire game. Trevor Siemian had some trouble and turned the ball over twice in the game off two interceptions.
A wobbled Newton appeared to have done just enough to get a measure of revenge for that bludgeoning in Super Bowl 50, when Miller stripped the ball and the Lombardi Trophy from his grasp. It drew a flag and would’ve moved the Panthers into closer field goal range with a few plays left. But when I went down and talked to him, he was fine. It’s not going to define my season.
During the contest, Newton took a series of shots to the head courtesy of Broncos defenders without accumulating a single penalty yard.
This rematch was completely different than Super Bowl in what has become an instant classic and another Broncos 4th quarter comeback.
Right or wrong, the pounding the Broncos planned and delivered had an effect – not just the apparent headshots from Jared Crick, Brandon Marshall, Von Miller and Stewart, but consecutive, legal hits from Shaquil Barrett and DeMarcus Ware midway through the third quarter than had Newton talking to doctors and grabbing his right lower leg on the bench. Newton writhed in pain on the sideline while Carolina’s defense was on the field, but he returned after the Broncos were forced into a three-and-out.
Siemian displayed some jitters, with two interceptions that probably could have been avoided, but he also showed a quick release and a strong arm, completing 18 of 26 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown while seeming content to let C. J. Anderson, the Broncos’ top running back, lead the way in a dominant second half.
Cornerback Chris Harris Jr., whose interception led to Denver’s go-ahead score minutes earlier, was called for illegal use of the hands, giving Carolina fresh hope.
CAROLINA BLUE: The Panthers are 17-1 against the rest of the world since the start of last season and 0-2 against the Broncos.
On the play in which Denver was charged with a helmet-to-helmet hit, an intentional grounding call against Newton offset the penalty during the Panthers’ failed final drive, which ended with a missed 50-yard field goal attempt by Graham Gano as time expired. Marshall was a college teammate at Nevada with San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been taking a knee during the anthem to protest racial injustice.
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“Yes, I noticed it”, he said. “I’m against social injustice”.
