Play 6
Situation: 3rd and 3 at CIN 3
Description: Q1 – (5:53) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short middle to K.Benjamin for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 6. CIN
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Left Far – “Rope” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1 with four underneath linebacker zones.
The Bengals pre-snap line up in a Cover 2 shell. FS20 is lining up shallow and post-snap jumps up into a zone on the line of scrimmage. This is Newton’s key to the touchdown. After Nelson rushes forward, Benjamin is left with an unimpeded path over the middle of the endzone for a quick-slant route touchdown.
Play 7
Situation: 3rd and 3 at CIN 12
Description: Q3 – (4:01) (Shotgun) C.Newton right tackle for 12 yards, TOUCHDOWN. CAR-F.Velasco was injured during the play. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 6. CIN
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Near – “Lion” Call
Offensive Personnel: 12
Defensive Formation: Cover 3
Outside of Newton’s passing ability he is known for his running ability. This is a QB Power run to the right using the fullback and the pulling left guard from across the formation to seal out the safety. WR81 Avant does an excellent job of sealing out his cornerback while Newton set him up perfectly for the cutback to the inside.
Play 8
Situation: 1st and 10 at CIN 13
Description: Q4 – (4:58) C.Newton pass short left to G.Olsen for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official challenged the runner broke the plane ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 6. CIN
Offensive Formation: Singleback Big 3TE Right
Offensive Personnel: 13
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
This is an excellent play set-up. Newton takes the snap from under center and runs bootleg to the right. Meanwhile TE88 Olsen on the line of scrimmage pretends to block, but then disengages on a drag route to the left wide open for the touchdown. Give credit to the play design and execution more than any individual player here.
Play 9
Situation: 2nd and 11 at GB 13
Description: Q4 – (9:43) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short right to K.Benjamin for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 7. GB
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Left Near – “Rope” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
Newton from shotgun instantly diagnoses the Cover 1 defense of the Packers and targets WR13 Benjamin on a fade route to the endzone for the touchdown. On these type of routes I like to see the ball go more towards the sideline of the endzone so that Benjamin can have more space to box out his defender better. Even still he pulls it down using great arm strength to not let the ball hit the ground.
Play 10
Situation: 3rd and 10 at NO 10
Description: Q3 – (10:20) Cam Newton 10 Yd Run (Graham Gano Kick)
Opponent: 9. NO
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Right Far – “Lasso” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 4
Here is an excellent play showing Newton’s scrambling ability in dealing with pressure. CB21 Robinson is the free rusher from the right edge. Newton recognizes that it’s a busted play from the start so he uses his athleticism to get to the edge and scramble up the sideline for a touchdown.
Play 11
Situation: 2nd and 4 at PHI 21
Description: Q4 – (9:11) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short left to K.Benjamin for 21 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 10. PHI
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Trips Right Far – “Lasso” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
On 2nd and 4 I love this play set-up versus the Cover 1 defense by the Eagles. First Newton takes the snap and idenfities the Cover 1 shell with the deep free safety by the endzone. On both sides of the field the Panthers are running slant-flat concepts to horizontally stretch the defense. On the left side of the field the linebacker instantly attacks the flat-route run by the runningback from the backfield and CB26 Williams covers Benjamins slant route. Newton fits a tight ball into Benjamin’s hands who shakes the initial tackle by Williams and makes it to the endzone for the score.
On the right side of the field, the Panthers are running the same slant-flat concept. If you notice the slot defender standing 5-10 yards off of the line of scrimmage from WR82 Cotchery this should be Newton’s sign to attack the defense on this side. Once the outside cornerback follows the right slant route up the middle of the field, Cotchery is left wide open. On 2nd and short (4 yards) this is an instant first down and possibly more depending on Cotchery’s escapability on the sideline. Overall, just an excellent play set-up by the Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula.
Play 12
Situation: 3rd and 19 at PHI 40
Description: Q4 – (5:37) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass deep left to K.Benjamin for 40 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 10. PHI
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Twin Stacks Right
Offensive Personnel: 01
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
The Eagles are in Cover 1 defense with CB26 Williams playing press-man coverage on WR13 Benjamin. Benjamin runs an excellent stop-n-go route up the left sideline. Newton keeps his eyes on the right side of the field pulling the single high safety over in their direction. This leaves a wide-open space for Benjamin. Newton launches the ball deep to the left, but underthrows it to the beginning of the endzone when this ball could have been placed further in the back of the endzone. Some may argue that since Benjamin had Williams beat that he might have been able to react better to the ball if it was thrown deeper into the endzone, but in my opinion Benjamin clearly had a full yard on Williams leading to an easy over touchdown in the back.
Play 13
Situation: 1st and 10 at ATL 22
Description: Q4 – (9:18) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Newton pass deep left to K.Benjamin for 22 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 11. ATL
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Right Far
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2
In this fade route pass to the endzone give full credit to Benjamin for the excellent double catch. His defender CB21 Trufant had perfect coverage draping over him and even helped break up the initial reception away , but Benjamin while falling down was able to pull it in for a spectacular catch. Extremely impressive for the rookie wide receiver.
Play 14
Situation: 1st and 10 at ATL 47
Description: Q4 – (6:29) C.Newton pass deep right to C.Brown for 47 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 11. ATL
Offensive Formation: Offset-I Near Right
Offensive Personnel: 21
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
Newton takes the snap from under center and fakes the handoff to the runningback in offset-I formation. On 1st and 10 the outside wide receivers are running go-routes down the sidelines. WR16 Brown uses his second gear to burn past his defender to get open. This is another throw like in Play 12 where Newton left the ball short of his mark, but got bailed out by his wide receiver. Brown clearly had the edge on CB27 McClain, but had to come back to the ball in the same fashion that Benjamin did previously.
Play 15
Situation: 4th and 4 at MIN 32
Description: Q3 – (9:21) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass deep middle to C.Brown for 32 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 13. MIN
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Split
Offensive Personnel: 21
Defensive Formation: Cover 1
On 4th down and 4 with 13:28 remaining in the 4th quarter, the Panthers are down 28-6 to the Vikings. This explains the play-call. The Vikings line up in Cover 1 but the Panthers decide to go deep to stretch their defense and see if the deviation from a standard play-call will result in a big gain. This play works as Newton finds WR16 Brown on a deep-post route over the middle of the field. This ball again is underthrown as the defender was trailing behind Brown and Brown had to slow down and adjust to it. With the single high safety getting pulled to the left on the misdirection this ball could have been thrown deeper into the endzone.
Play 16
Situation: 2nd and 7 at NO 9
Description: Q1 – (11:47) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Newton pass short left to K.Benjamin for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Pass 9, YAC 0 G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 14. NO
Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Left Near
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2
Here is an excellent throw by Newton against the Saints defense on 2nd down. In this play, Benjamin runs a hitch route on the far left sideline. His defender has good inside coverage, but leaves the outside sideline susceptible for a well-thrown ball. Newton places the ball perfectly and Benjamin pulls it in.
