NFL Winners and Losers: Cam Newton is a legitimate MVP candidate
If you ask a knowledgeable NFL fan who has the worst set of receivers in the NFL, it won’t take long for them to list the Carolina Panthers. Many might list the Panthers first.
The Panthers’ offensive line wasn’t considered before the season to be anywhere in the top half of the league, though it has played pretty well. Running back Jonathan Stewart has been below 4 yards per carry this season and hasn’t scored a touchdown.
So at some point, when all these deficiencies are added up, doesn’t it make sense that Cam Newton is on a very short list of legitimate MVP candidates right now?
Nobody has done more with less, at least. The other quarterbacks in the discussion — Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and yes, Andy Dalton — have more help. But here the Panthers are, at 5-0 after doing what so few teams have done in the Russell Wilson era, and that’s win at the Seattle Seahawks.
Newton led an eight-play, 80-yard drive in the final three minutes to beat the Seahawks 27-23. In the final minute Newton hit tight end Greg Olsen for a 26-yard touchdown pass when there was a miscommunication between safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Richard Sherman, who gestured to each other in frustration after Olsen scored. Newton completed all six of his passes that drive with the game on the line (let’s not count an incompletion on a spike to stop the clock). On the possession before that, Newton took the Panthers 80 yards for a score and went 5-of-6 on the drive. That’s how the Panthers turned a 23-14 fourth-quarter deficit into a win.
That win legitimizes the Panthers. Carolina had played a soft schedule to start 4-0, so it was tough to tell how good they really were. The four quarterbacks Carolina faced to start the season were Blake Bortles, Ryan Mallett, Luke McCown and Jameis Winston. if you had to pick one of the unbeaten teams that had proven the least in its hot start, it was the Panthers. That’s not the case anymore.
It’s clear that this isn’t the same Seahawks team, because something is seriously off there, but it’s still a quality win for the Panthers. You can see how far they have come since a playoff loss at Seattle last season. And it makes you look at what else the Panthers have done this season in a new light. They’re 5-0, with a heck of a road win on the resume now. And they have a quarterback who, even though many have trouble warming up to him, has rebounded very nicely after a down and injury-filled 2014.
The Panthers don’t have an offensive lineup around Newton that scares anyone, but somehow Newton always seems to find a way to be productive. He might even be putting together the best season of his career. You can also argue he’s having the best season of anyone in the NFL so far this season.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 6 in the NFL:
WINNERS
Gary Barnidge: The Cleveland Browns didn’t win on Sunday, but don’t blame Barnidge.
When players come out of nowhere to have a big season, they’re usually still pretty young or there’s some good reason for the sudden uptick, like benefiting from a dramatic scheme change. However, Barnidge really is that rare success story that truly came out of the blue.
Barnidge, the Browns’ tight end, had played seven seasons in the NFL before this one. He turned 30 on Sept. 22, so he’s no youngster. His career highs for a season before this year were 13 catches and 242 yards. He had three touchdowns in 92 games. And now he’s tying team records set by Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome.
Barnidge caught two touchdowns against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. He has caught a touchdown in four straight games, joining Newsome as the only Browns tight ends to accomplish that. Through six games Barnidge has 27 catches, 413 yards and five touchdowns, already more than what he had the past two seasons combined in each category.
Barnidge was a fast tight end with good size who was a fifth-round pick of the Panthers in 2008. He had a pretty unremarkable career in the NFL until this season. At 30, he’s making up for lost time.
Colin Kaepernick: Kaepernick has spent the past few weeks being ripped for his poor play, and it was justified. He has been one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks this season. But he was very good on Sunday.
Kaepernick completed 16-of-27 passes for 340 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He threw a great ball on a 76-yard touchdown to Torrey Smith, the kind of pass we were used to seeing when Kaepernick was playing better earlier in his career. One good game doesn’t totally turn everything around for Kaepernick, and it’s pretty clear that the Baltimore Ravens’ defense is pretty bad.
But considering some were wondering if Blaine Gabbert should get a chance to play given Kaepernick’s struggles, this was a good step. If nothing else, it’s a great boost for his confidence going forward.
Peyton Manning: At one point in the Denver Broncos’ eventual win over the Cleveland Browns, it wasn’t crazy to wonder if the Broncos at some point would have to start thinking about Brock Osweiler at quarterback.
Manning wasn’t great on Sunday, and he threw three more interceptions. He has seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season, an unbelievable stat. But when the Broncos absolutely needed him, Manning delivered.
Manning hit Emmanuel Sanders on a perfectly-placed 75-yard touchdown down the sideline after one of his interceptions was returned for a touchdown. That pick-six gave the Browns a 20-16 lead, but Manning took it right back. Manning wasn’t great the whole game, but that was the biggest play in a crazy game the Broncos ended up winning in overtime. Manning’s arm strength has been a constant topic of conversation this season, but that was a beautiful throw.
At some point the Broncos might have to really, truly consider what their best option at quarterback is. Any quarterback who has three more interceptions than touchdowns and a 72.5 rating six games into the season has to be evaluated honestly, no matter if he’s one of the greatest to ever play or not. But the Broncos are 6-0. Manning has made some difference-making plays in some of those wins. It’s a lot easier to answer hard questions with an undefeated record.
LOSERS
Mike McCoy: Philip Rivers deserved a better fate at Lambeau Field. The San Diego Chargers quarterback threw for 503 yards on 43-of-65 passing. Had the game gone to overtime, Rivers would have had a chance to set some NFL single-game records. And the game should have gone to overtime, but the Chargers’ play-calling at the end was strange.
The Chargers had a goal-to-go situation, trailing the Green Bay Packers 27-20. And they also had a white-hot quarterback and a tight end in Antonio Gates who the Packers couldn’t cover. They did not have their starting running back, because Melvin Gordon was benched after two fumbles. So what did they do with goal-to-go? Inside handoffs to third-down back Danny Woodhead. Twice.
Woodhead got the ball on first and third downs and was stuffed each time. That’s not Woodhead’s strength, to say the least. Rivers threw to Woodhead — a role he’s tremendous at — on fourth down and it was broken up. The Chargers overthought it. Four passes by Rivers in that spot would have had a really good shot to score a touchdown and force overtime. Two passes at the goal line just meant a really tough loss, wasting a great performance by Rivers.
Mike Pettine: Another coach made a questionable call that had a direct impact on his team losing, and it came in Cleveland.
When the Browns scored with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter to take a 20-16 lead, the Browns went for the 2-point conversion. The Browns are trying to go up by six points there, so if the Broncos kick two field goals against them, they only tie it. But it also meant that if the Browns didn’t get the 2-point conversion and the Broncos then scored a touchdown, the Browns would be trailing by 3 points. A field goal wouldn’t win the game, it would only tie it. Well, guess what happened.
The Broncos scored a touchdown. The Browns’ field goal later in the fourth quarter just tied the game. The game went to overtime, and the Broncos won it.
Not sure he should feel so good about that decision. It was dubious. And it cost his team dearly.
Kansas City Chiefs: The talk this week was that Charcandrick West would take over for Jamaal Charles, out for the season with a torn ACL, or perhaps Knile Davis would emerge. West had 33 yards on nine carries. Davis had 13 yards on five carries. The Chiefs didn’t have a run play longer than 9 yards. They lost 16-10 at the Minnesota Vikings.
The Chiefs are in trouble, of course. They’re 1-5 and in last place in the AFC West, so they’re virtually playing out the string at this point. The offense is not built for Alex Smith to put it on his back. And the running game just lost one of the best backs in football. They can’t replace Charles, because no team could.
The rest of the season will be a struggle. For a team that had such high hopes, it’s tough that the season is basically over in mid-October.
Arizona Cardinals: I don’t think the Cardinals are a bad team. I just wonder how good they really are.
The Cardinals have played four bad teams. They are 4-0 against them. They’ve played two decent teams, the St. Louis Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re 0-2 in those games.
The Cardinals played a Steelers team that got 6 passing yards from its starting quarterback, Michael Vick, who played into the third quarter. Then he was replaced by Landry Jones, who had never thrown a pass in three NFL seasons and had been written off by mostly everyone. And the Cardinals lost by 12 points.
Maybe the Cardinals will become a Super Bowl contender, which many people have said they are early this season as they beat up bad teams. But it’s tough to say they’re a championship contender right now. They’re not going to get to play the Saints, Bears, 49ers or Lions in the playoffs, after all.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
