5 critical observations from Cam Newton’s 2021 season
By Dean Jones
Cam Newton didn’t do enough to remove Sam Darnold from the equation
When Cam Newton came back and was named the starter for Week 11 at home to the Washington Football Team, it was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. A chance to show the Carolina Panthers they shouldn’t have let him go in the first place and re-announce himself on the NFL stage.
Although there were plenty of mitigating factors behind Newton’s lack of production under center, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Matt Rhule was going to install Sam Darnold as the No. 1 option as soon as he was ready.
This wasn’t what the fans wanted to hear.
But Newton didn’t do enough to remove Darnold from the equation.
One could suggest he would need to excel to a Pro Bowl level to alter Rhule’s train of thought regarding Darnold. The former Baylor man saw something in the troubled signal-caller to give up three draft picks to the New York Jets and he seemed more than happy to chop and change the most important position on the field after almost every Newton turnover.
Not exactly the best way to win football games.
Newton wasn’t the force of old, not by any stretch. However, he was arguably more efficient than Darnold in the grand scheme of things – no matter what the coaching staff would have you believe.