Cam Newton was drafted out of Auburn first overall in 2011. During the 2014 season, Newton dealt with some injuries but played the vast majority of the season completing 27 touchdowns for the Panthers’ offense and leading them to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. In this breakdown we will look at all of Newton’s touchdowns both in the regular season as well as the postseason.
Regular Season Stats
Newton – 262/448 (58.5%), 6.98 y/a, 18 TDs, 12 INTs, 103 rushes for 539 yards and 5 TDs
Postseason Stats
Newton – 41/68 (60.3%), 6.53 y/a, 4 TDs, 3 INTs, 18 rushes for 72 yards
Before we begin looking at some of his plays, I wanted to take a look at the recipients of Newton’s touchdowns:
Receiver Breakdown
| Kelvin Benjamin | 9 |
| Greg Olsen | 5 |
| Corey Brown | 2 |
| Fozzy Whittaker | 2 |
| Jason Avant | 1 |
| Jonathan Stewart | 1 |
| Ed Dickson | 1 |
| Mike Tolbert | 1 |
Kelvin Benjamin, the rookie wide receiver from Florida State University, really stepped up and made an impact catching 73 balls for 1,008 yards. He should continue to grow as Newton’s primary target alongside 2015 NFL Draft pick Devin Funchess from Michigan. Greg Olsen remains a valuable endzone target also when the Panthers aren’t running a variation of a misdirection involving Newton’s athletic ability. Here are the touchdowns broken down by quarter and down:
Quarter Breakdown
| 1st Quarter | 4 |
| 2nd Quarter | 6 |
| 3rd Quarter | 7 |
| 4th Quarter | 10 |
Down Breakdown
| 1st Down | 9 |
| 2nd Down | 7 |
| 3rd Down | 10 |
| 4th Down | 1 |
As well as the distance and location of the touchdowns:
Distance Breakdown
| Fewer than 6 Yards | 6 |
| Between 6 and 15 yards | 11 |
| More than 15 yards | 10 |
Location Breakdown
| Deep Left | Deep Middle | Deep Right |
| 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Intermediate Left | Intermediate Middle | Intermediate Right |
| 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Short Left | Short Middle | Short Right |
| 5 | 2 | 3 |
I find it interesting that the vast majority of Newton’s touchdowns were on the sidelines as opposed to over the middle of the field. Here is are all the routes broken down with the slant/drag routes being the most popular touchdown causing move.
Route Breakdown
| Slant/Drag | 5 |
| Go/Stop-n-Go | 4 |
| Fade | 3 |
| Hitch | 2 |
| Post | 2 |
| Screen | 2 |
| Shoot/Swing | 2 |
| Seam | 1 |
| Out | 1 |
Play 1
Situation: 2nd and 14 at DET 14
Description: Q3 – (2:36) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short left to J.Avant for 14 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 2. DET
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Split Slot Left
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 3
Newton in shotgun takes the snap and immediately looks left. WR81 Avant runs a post route from the left wide out position. Newton fires a bullet hitting Avant perfectly in the hands for an a touchdown underneath the Cover 3 shell of the defense.
Play 2
Situation: 1st and 10 at PIT 37
Description: Q4 – (13:37) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Newton pass short right to G.Olsen for 37 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 3. PIT
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Left Near – “Rope” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
Newton takes the snap from shotgun and instantly finds the safety deep middle of the field. This forces him to look to the right and see TE88 Olsen running an out-route towards the sideline. Newton fires an excellent ball past the outstretched arms of CB28 Cortez. Olsen catches the ball with excellent technique reaching for it and cuts up the field for a touchdown.
Play 3
Situation: 3rd and 14 at BAL 28
Description: Q2 – (8:41) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass deep left to K.Benjamin for 28 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 4. BAL
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Split Slot Right
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2 with 5 underneath zone defenders
This is a busted coverage by FS24 Stewart of the Ravens defense. Benjamin lining up by himself on the left wide out spot runs a go route past the first line underneath zone defenders into the deep left zone. Newton does an excellent job of keeping Stewart in the middle of the field by starting his reads right and then finding Benjamin for the long strike down the sideline.
Play 4
Situation: 1st and 9 at CHI 9
Description: Q2 – (:17) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short right to G.Olsen for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 5. CHI
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Right Far – “Lasso” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 3 with 4 underneath zone defenders
Olsen lines up in the slot right position and runs a seam route between the deep middle and deep right zones of the Cover 3 shells. Newton goes through his reads and recognizes the coverage finding Olsen for the touchdown.
Play 5
Situation: 3rd and 6 at CHI 6
Description: Q4 – (2:23) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short middle to G.Olsen for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 5. CHI
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Jumbo Left
Offensive Personnel: 13
Defensive Formation: Goalline two zones
On 3rd and 6, the Bears line up in goalline defense dropping two safeties into the endzone. Newton takes the snap from shotgun and fakes the handoff to the runningback drawing in the linebackers. TE88 Olsen slips between the two dropping zone safeties for an easy touchdown strike.
