Last week: 30 (-1)
Record: 2-6
Last week I mentioned that Cam Newton is 1-10 in his career in games decided by a touchdown or less. Well, the good news is that he’s 6-7 in his other 13 games. Typically, records in touchdown games even out over time. Teams that win a game by a touchdown or less win their following game 52% of the time if that game is also decided by a touchdown or less. If that were the case in his 11 close games, he’d have around a .500 career record, instead of being 7-17, which wouldn’t be bad considering that they don’t have a great supporting cast. Meanwhile, as disappointing as his 2012 has been, they have the exact same record through 8 games as they did last year, when Newton was the next big thing.
This year, he has just one loss by more than a touchdown and that was on Thursday Night, when it’s understandable for a young quarterback to have a bad game. They have just a -31 points differential this year and while they rank 29th in rate of sustaining drives differential, they are 3rd in yards per play differential. They’re an underrated team who could continue to surprise people like they did to Washington last week. For the record, last year I thought Newton was overrated and this offseason he was given too high of expectations, but now that he hasn’t met them, people have soured on him and he’s become underrated.
Studs
RT Byron Bell: Didn’t allow a pressure on 29 pass block snaps, run blocked for 37 yards and a touchdown on 3 attempts
LE Charles Johnson: 3 sacks and 7 quarterback hurries on 41 pass rush snaps, 1 solo tackle, 2 assists, 4 stops, 2 missed tackles
RE Greg Hardy: 2 sacks, 1 quarterback hit, and 4 quarterback hurries on 41 pass rush snaps, 5 solo tackles, 6 stops, 3 missed tackles
CB Josh Thomas: Allowed 1 catch for -9 yards on 1 attempt, 1 solo tackle, 1 assist, 1 stop
CB Captain Munnerlyn: 6 solo tackles, 2 assists, 1 stop, 1 missed tackle, allowed 6 catches for 31 yards on 9 attempts
Duds
RG Jeff Byers: Allowed 2 pressures on 29 pass block snaps
WR Louis Murphy: Caught 1 pass for 4 yards on 2 attempts on 26 pass snaps
RE Frank Alexander: Didn’t record a pressure on 32 pass rush snaps, 1 assist, 1 missed tackle
DT Dwan Edwards: 2 quarterback hurries on 38 pass rush snaps, 1 penalty, 1 solo tackle, 3 assists, 1 stop, 3 missed tackles
MLB Luke Kuechly: Allowed 6 catches for 67 yards on 8 attempts, 9 solo tackles, 5 assists, 6 stops, 1 missed tackle
LOLB Thomas Davis: 6 solo tackles, 2 assists, 4 stops, 3 missed tackles, allowed 3 catches for 46 yards on 5 attempts
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