Live from Falcons-Panthers: Is Cam still Carolina’s man?
Cam Newton: Is the gifted quarterback the Panthers' leader or a man apart? (AP photo)
The Cam Newton backlash has begun, as if on cue. The man who was going to elevate the woebegone Carolina Panthers, similar to the way he’d lifted the Auburn Tigers on high, has been the subject of much criticism for his play and, most especially, his demeanor.
Cam takes losses hard. When you’re the team leader, you can’t take losses so hard that you depress the rest of the team. (This tends to lead, as night follows day, to more losing.) The wide receiver Steve Smith upbraided Newton on the sideline during the fourth quarter of Carolina’s awful Thursday-night loss to the Giants, and in the 10 days since that has become the talk of the Queen City.
(Side note: Charlotte is known as the Queen City. So is Cincinnati.)
About the Falcons: They’ve looked as good as any team in the league. They should win today. But Cam is capable of extraordinary things. One of his best days came in this building in December 2010. Which isn’t to say I’m picking Cam’s team to win 56-17 today. I like the Falcons by 10.
Whatever happens, I’ll be here to watch, comment and converse. I hope you’ll join me. And I thank you, as ever, in advance.
By Mark Bradley
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1,070 comments Add your comment
J.J.M.
September 30th, 2012
3:59 pm
Wtf is that. Why roll out
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 30th, 2012
3:59 pm
What the hell was that? throw it away.
rm
September 30th, 2012
3:59 pm
O line is bad today. Got to throw that football away Matt
phil
September 30th, 2012
3:59 pm
A lot is on Ryan today…..
What the hell is he doing?
JSS
September 30th, 2012
3:59 pm
Oh no!!!
ramblinwreck80
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
really thought Ryan was above having a crappy game like this…he has not looked good today…
Falcons: Play 60!
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
yep, game over
MenVsBoys
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
Ball game! D can’t do it again. Hope I’m wrong.
80sFalcon
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
Where did our O line go?
kerryb
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
That was the dumbest play call ever. Why do the coordinators we get always want to make Ryan roll to his right and throw. Is Koeter as stupid as Mularkey?
Mark Bradley
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
The Falcons have three timeouts. Panthers take the ball with 2:26. One stop …
stizz
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
Missed opportunity. Julio, Julio, Julio.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
Come on the Great Mike Vick did it twice in a row and one vs the Ravens top 5 defense…………..
CHOKEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Sid
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
hope Ryan’s Blue Cross is paid up…this o line is horrible.
phil
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
Let the excuses begin now from the moron fringe……
MFranklin
September 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
O line lost out on 285… D is in Buckhead watching the game over beers and wings
jo
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
Odd, I didn’t see the O losing the game for us today. Where was the run..
Go away "Choke"
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
Falcons O’line is getting torched today.
Mark Bradley
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
Panthers have to run the ball, do they not?
me
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
Ryans misses a wide open Jones, then doesn’t throw the ball out of bounds while out of the pocket.
WOWOWOWOW.
Bad sign of a pending collapse.
Falcons: Play 60!
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
” One stop …”
already got it, and then Matty and the O laid a huge egg …. you don’t get another “one stop”
kerryb
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
I thought Mularkey went to Jax. I don’t see the difference.
Mark Bradley
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
Jonathan Stewart for four. Dent tackles him. Timeout, Falcons. With 2:21 left.
Moorman
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
Noodle arm strikes again……leads a all by his lonesome juilo jones out of bounds…..
me
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
jo
September 30th, 2012
4:01 pm
Odd, I didn’t see the O losing the game for us today. Where was the run..
Are you serious. 6 sacks, not counting the last one. Are you really that dumb.
Sid
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
this game is on both lines…..mainly the O line. Poor Ryan.
kerryb
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
Julio needs to learn how to drag the foot going out of bounds like Roddy White.
steve
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
No way Ryan is ready to take a step as an elite QB, he is the reason we are loosing this game. You cannot hold on to the ball as long as he has been.
MenVsBoys
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
Here we go. They’re going to push it right at us.
JSS
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
LOL at phil…
Mark Bradley
September 30th, 2012
4:02 pm
Cam Newton option keep. First down. Running down to two minutes.
sack man
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
same old same old
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
HA HA
The best wr duo in football……….
HA HA
Mark Bradley
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
One more first down wins it for the Queen City.
80sFalcon
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
God I hate Cam Newton!
Go away "Choke"
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Looks like this one is over…….
I dropped my fried twinkie
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
You know CAM has to run the ball to close out the game.
MenVsBoys
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Abraham, where are you going!
atlfalconsfan0125
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
3-1 aint bad. Good win panthers.
kerryb
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Steve, the reason we are losing is the pathetic O-line today especially Tyson Clabo who can’t block my grandmother. I guess Charles Johnson is more man than him.
Matt Ryan
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Matt Ryan looking like total garbage today. You’re seeing how dumb this guy really is. Wow
Pip
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Tutorial for every other team the Falcons face this season – Matt is only “Ice” if he remains relatively untouched. Our overwhelmed O-Line is making it way too easy for Carolina.
Mark Bradley
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
Really good game, in a hard-nosed sense. Have I said that already?
ramblinwreck80
September 30th, 2012
4:03 pm
football gods against the Falcons today…the long pass to Julio where the 2nd foot lands just out of bounds proves it…
JSS
September 30th, 2012
4:04 pm
@ phil…
I want you to notice the difference after the game in comparison to what has occurred the past 3 weeks!
kerryb
September 30th, 2012
4:04 pm
I despise Cam Newton so much I hope he breaks a leg at some point this year.
chokeins
September 30th, 2012
4:04 pm
Looks like the real Falcaints are playing today, town of losers.
J.J.M.
September 30th, 2012
4:04 pm
Falcons should be embarrassed…ryan still has a weak arm
Sid
September 30th, 2012
4:04 pm
sorry but beating up on the AFC West doesn’t make you elite…..reality hurts.
Go away "Choke"
September 30th, 2012
4:04 pm
Me thinks the Panthers were more ready for this game than the Falcons. Cause everybody knows they don’t have as much talent.