A Bad Season Gets Worse for Cam Newton

Whenever a star rookie player enters his second season in the league there is always one question which everyone is eager to see answered—will he fall victim to the dreaded sophomore slump?

 For Cam Newton it appears as if the question is well on its way to being answered. His leadership has come under question again. He is constantly accused of sulking and with a QB rating of 56.8 in his last game it is pretty easy to see why...

After the news the Carolina Panthers announced on Wednesday it appears as if Cam has another reason to sulk. His main protector, center Ryan Kalil, is out for the season with the dreaded Lisfranc injury in his left foot.

''It's unfortunate,'' Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. ''He was having a terrific year in spite of our situation. We're just going to hope for the best.''

Kalil, a Pro Bowl caliber player the last three seasons, made a name for himself during the preseason when he took out an ad in the local paper proclaiming the Panthers Super-Bowl bound.

It will be up to Geoff Hangartner now to protect Newton and help guide the team to the Promised Land after he moves from right guard to center. While there will be an adjustment period for Newton with his new center, he can rest assured that Hangartner is more than capable to do the job. He played center at Texas A&M before moving to tackle his senior season.

So while his new center should end up working out okay, the overall chemistry of the line has to be a concern now. The line as it was left something to be desired being ranked No. 23 in the league. With a group that has over 300 starts (8^th most in the league) you would expect better.

Losing a Pro Bowl type player like Kalil is bound to hurt, and it will likely be used as the next excuse for Cam Newton’s lackluster play should he have a poor game against the Dallas Cowboys following this week’s bye.

As much flack as he’s gotten this season Newton really isn’t doing too bad. His rating of 80.9 is 20^th in the league right now; not great, but still better than a good chunk of the league. It’s also just 3.6 points off of his rookie season rating.

At his current rate of 230.8 yards/game he is on pace for 3692 yards; just 359 yards less than his rookie season. He is on pace for 669 yards on the ground as well; last season he had 706. While he has already matched his lost fumble total from last season he is on pace for fewer interceptions (16).

The only stats that are drastically different are touchdowns via the pass and rushing along with sacks. Based on the first five games he’s going to throw just 12 touchdown passes and rush for nine while getting sacked 41 times.

When you consider the criticism that he has received this year and the review the statistics he’s posted to date another question has to come to mind: Could it be that Cam Newton isn't having a bad season; that he’s really just overrated?