Cam Newton can’t be feeling too good this morning.
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Last time vs. Bucs: Carolina has won the last six meetings, including a 2015 sweep – 37-23 in Tampa and 38-10 in Charlotte, where Cam Newton had four total TDs.
With nine seconds left in the 4th quarter, the Panthers’ kick veered to the left giving the Broncos a 21-20 victory.
The problem is that Thursday night quickly got out of hand.
The most unsafe hit came on Carolina’s final drive as Newton marched his team into position for a potential game-winning field goal.
Newton took the high road about the hits.
Obviously, there was more at stake for the Carolina Panthers than the Denver Broncos, who came into the National Football League opener with greener than green quarterback Trevor Siemian, and having won the Super Bowl over the Cats last February.
The quarterback remained on the ground for several seconds while tight end Greg Olsen and other teammates attended to him as officials sorted out the flags on the field. If there is a questionable call and you have to go to replay just to make sure. I bet Carolina walked out of Denver last night saying thank goodness we don’t have play these guys for a lengthy period of time.
The league also said Carolina medical staff ran out on the field to check on Newton immediately after the hit.
That’s no reason for the officials to continually look the other way.
Longer term, the league needs to seriously consider following the college game, which has brought down the hammer on targeting.
During NFL games, there are now unaffiliated certified athletic trainers (ATCs) in the press boxes and “neurotrauma consultants” on the sidelines to watch for possible concussion symptoms in players. In fact, he did not even gain a single penalty yard as a reward for his pain.
All targeting calls are automatically subject to a video review, a necessary step in a violent game that’s almost impossible to keep a handle on in real time. And on the one personal foul Steratore did call against Stewart, does anyone truly believe the ref would’ve called intentional grounding on Brady or Manning when it was so clear the approaching illegal hit inspired the throwaway? Once Siemian got it to Anderson, there was little question Carolina’s defense was caught.
“I think as far as big hits on quarterbacks or hits to the helmet, I think that would be important and I think eventually it is going to come that”, Carolina coach Ron Rivera said Friday.
Im not going to question the doctors, OK?
“This is about player safety at the end of the day, so we have to find a better solution to keep these things down to a minimum”.
That could lead to a hefty fine. “But he played with a lot of poise against a great football team”.
Ward said that every time Newton left the pocket and was a runner, “we tried to put helmet and shoulder pads on him”. Maybe he’s gotten so used to being subjected to a different standard that he expects it. “So it wasn’t something that I know they did intentionally, but it’s not fun getting hit in the head”.
The league should be watching out for all its players, even those who seem big enough and strong enough to take care of themselves.
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“Some of them you would like to see them throw the flags”, Rivera said without identifying which hits. “Based on what they saw on instant replay, and then coming back and looking at him on the field, they determined – and the independent determined it – that he was OK to continue”.
