Chris Harris Jr. intercepted Cam Newton two plays later and Anderson took it in from the 1.
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“It wasn’t so much to build confidence as to show confidence”, Kubiak said Friday, suggesting the only way a young QB gets better is for his coach to show faith in him.
Denver’s win over Carolina 21-20 with the nail biting field goal at the end that went wide left on Graham Gano, and the 10 point deficit comeback the Broncos over came; as fantastic as the game was as a whole, one aspect which cannot be shaken from social media nor ESPN, were the hits Cam Newton took to the helmet.
In the short term, the league needs to immediately send out an edict to its officials that ALL quarterbacks are deserving of the same protections, as well as launch an urgent review of its concussion protocol after Newton went through the entire game without being tested, even after all those brutal hits. “We didn’t”, Rivera said. At the very most, it was a failure of the league to protect a player.
“And remember also that there are people up in the box that are looking down and the head referee”.
They’re rapidly realizing they can lean on him, too.
There were a couple of helmet-to-helmet hits on Newton by last year’s Super Bowl MVP Von Miller and Brandon Marshall that went un-flagged by Gene Stetatore’s crew, prompting Newton to declare, “I don’t like getting hit in the head”, but he added he didn’t think the Broncos were head-hunting.
“There is certainly evidence that someone going back into a game, having a second blow or a third blow in a short period of time. may have more accumulative effect than spacing them out”.
“Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis told the Charlotte Observer that he thinks that because of Newton’s unique size – at 6’5” and 245 pounds, he is one of the biggest quarterbacks in the league – officials treat him differently.
“There’s a little bit of prejudice to that”. Again, it’s kind of like what happened to Shaquille O’Neal. “Then when he goes to shoot a layup and gets hacked and hammered, they don’t call it”. “He’s an imposing figure, and sometimes those big hits don’t look as bad on a big guy”.
The news being leaked in the wake of the Newton situation is probably not a coincidence. I don’t want to take anything away from Trevor Siemian, but (at least at this point in his career) he is no Drew Brees. It is not up to me to make those decisions and those calls. “We weren’t communicating well and it cost us some big plays”.
Still feeling disrespected despite bringing home the Lombardi Trophy, members of Denver’s nasty defense pledged to keep serving as the Broncos’ vicious vanguard in 2016.
Still, against a stout Carolina defense, it was an impressive win. He got involved early with a 14-yard TD catch from Newton.
Graham Grano missed a 50-yard field goal in the closing seconds which would have given the Panthers redemption for their 24-10 loss in Super Bowl 50 in February. “I’m just glad it was offsetting penalties”. “I never grabbed his face mask”.
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There was one play in the fourth quarter when as Newton toward the left sideline, Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby seemed to let up a tad on the quarterback. It was his 44th career rushing touchdown, most ever by an National Football League quarterback. The previous mark was Todd Sauerbrun’s 73-yarder at Miami (11/4/01).
