Cam Newton was the best offensive player in Super Bowl 50

Good Plays

While the article so far has focused on failures by the Panthers’ offense, they did have some success. The Panthers had a handful of successful drives where they got into scoring positions, but they squandered two of those opportunities by missing a field goal and the interception covered earlier. On their one TD drive, they strung together a number of big plays, while later in the game the big plays were only isolated successes.

2-10-CAR 27 (Q1, :44) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass deep right to 10-C.Brown ran ob at CAR 47 for 20 yards. Caught at CAR 47. 0-yds YAC

Here, Brown runs a great route that gets Talib to turn up field to respect the vertical threat, and Cam has excellent ball placement, giving Brown ample room to get his feet down in bounds.

1-15-DEN 48 (Q2, 13:55) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton scrambles right end to DEN 36 for 12 yards (58-V.Miller).

When nothing opens up downfield (it’s notable that Olsen slipped on this play) Cam is able to scramble and pick up a very nice gain on 1st down.

3-1-DEN 34 (Q2, 12:34) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 88-G.Olsen pushed ob at DEN 15 for 19 yards (59-D.Trevathan). Caught at DEN 34. 19-yds YAC

The play design here is more effective than anything else, but it’s perfectly executed by Olsen, and Cam puts the ball in the best spot possible. It’s a higher degree of difficulty on the throw than most throws at the line of scrimmage because Cam has to fit it over the defender after running a play fake in the other direction.

1-10-DEN 15 (Q2, 11:52) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 10-C.Brown to DEN 2 for 13 yards (21-A.Talib). Caught at DEN 11. 9-yds YAC PENALTY on DEN-21-A.Talib, Face Mask (15 Yards), 1 yard, enforced at DEN 2.

Cam gave Brown perfect placement on the drag route that allowed him to catch the ball easily and turn upfield.

3-12-CAR 17 (Q2, 1:22) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass deep middle to 17-D.Funchess to CAR 41 for 24 yards (29-B.Roby). Caught at CAR 41. 0-yds YAC

Cam has to hold onto the ball here because no one gets open downfield. This could also go in the “avoiding sacks” section, but Cam does one better than just avoid the sack. He keeps his eyes downfield, and resets in the pocket to launch the ball to Funchess. Funchess’ best attribute is his size, and he does a nice job of coming back to the ball and using his jump ball ability to reel in the pass.

2-10-CAR 20 (Q3, 14:22) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass deep middle to 19-T.Ginn to DEN 35 for 45 yards (21-A.Talib). Caught at CAR 38. 27-yds YAC

Talib plays soft on the deep crosser, and the safety slips while trying to drive on the ball. Cam hits Ginn perfectly in stride and the Panthers pick up a really nice gain that nearly put them in field goal range right out of halftime.

2-9-DEN 39 (Q3, 12:27) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short right to 19-T.Ginn to DEN 25 for 14 yards (21-A.Talib). Caught at DEN 32. 7-yds YAC

Ginn won separation on the slant this time and Cam hit him in stride, which allowed Ginn to pick up a few more after the catch.

1-10-CAR 20 (Q3, 8:18) 1-C.Newton pass deep middle to 10-C.Brown to DEN 38 for 42 yards (43-T.Ward) [56-S.Ray]. Caught at DEN 38. 0-yds YAC

First of all, this is an amazing catch by Brown. He does a fantastic job of high pointing the ball and bringing down the catch. Without that, this could have been an interception. Newton’s throw isn’t great, but the degree of difficulty is also really high with Shane Ray bearing down on him as he throws.

1-10-50 (Q4, 13:17) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short right to 17-D.Funchess to DEN 34 for 16 yards (29-B.Roby). Caught at DEN 37. 3-yd YAC

This throw is underneath off coverage, but it shows a good conceptual understanding by Newton. While the throw appears to be slightly behind Funchess, that’s actually intentional. Roby, who is functioning as a single deep safety on this play, is clearly going to drive on the pass. Cam throwing the ball slightly behind Funchess allows Funchess to shield the ball from the hit by Roby.

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Plays that were Cam’s Fault

In my opinion, the good from Cam in this game outweighs the bad pretty heavily in this game. That doesn’t mean, however, that he was flawless. Some faults have already been discussed above, but what follows are plays that failed pretty much solely because of Newton. There are six of them.

2-8-CAR 21 (Q1, 9:54) (No Huddle) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete short left to 10-C.Brown.

This is Cam’s first throw of the game, and he sails it over Brown’s head. It’s been suggested that Cam a little nervous, which is understandable to me given the stage, but this play is clearly on him. This would have prevented the Panthers from going three and out and there was extra yardage to be had because Chris Harris Jr. slipped.

2-8-CAR 38 (Q1, 5:15) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete short right to 19-T.Ginn.

More evidence of potential butterflies for Cam as he sails this pass over Ginn’s head. It’s not the biggest window and there’s some pressure, but Cam needs to make this throw.

2-12-CAR 17 (Q2, 1:26) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete short left to 19-T.Ginn.

The route Ginn runs here is a curl, and Cam just misses him. This may have been a kind of throwaway because there was a player right in Ginn’s face, but it’s also certainly possible that Cam just misfired.

3-11-DEN 26 (Q3, 11:00) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete short right to 88-G.Olsen.

Obviously the Broncos were consistently getting pressure home in this game. On this play, they bring a blitz but it doesn’t work, and is picked up well by the Panthers’ protection. Cam, however, has been shaken by the poor protection. He should stay in the pocket here, but instead he drifts to his right and makes the situations worse by giving the contain player the angle over Remmers. Had he stayed in the pocket, he had plenty of room to hit Olsen on the out route. Instead, his throw goes out of bounds.

2-14-CAR 24 (Q4, 8:00) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete short left to 88-G.Olsen (92-S.Williams).

This pass was actually tipped by Sylvester Williams at the line of scrimmage. On these types of plays, it’s difficult to determine who is at fault, because the offensive lineman needs to keep the throwing lane clear but the QB also needs to adjust his throwing lane if there’s a defender getting in the way. I’ve given Cam the benefit of the doubt on some earlier plays, I won’t give it to him here.

2-9-CAR 25 (Q4, 4:19) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete short left to 17-D.Funchess.

C Ryan Kalil gets murdered on this play and it forces Cam to make a quick throw, but Cam simply needs to have better placement than this. On the next play Cam got strip-sacked (which wasn’t his fault, but still), which lead to the Broncos’ second TD. Here, he could have picked up a nice first down to help with the potential comeback drive. Instead, it led to a third-and-9.

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Inconsequential Plays

There were a number of plays that simply didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. Some of them picked up a few yards, but the Broncos mostly intentionally allowed those yards. There’s not a lot to be gleaned about Cam’s game from the plays below:

2-9-CAR 46 (Q1, 4:04) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short right to 10-C.Brown to DEN 49 for 5 yards (58-V.Miller). Caught at CAR 45. 6-yds YAC

1-10-CAR 47 (Q1, :17) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short right to 28-J.Stewart to CAR 46 for -1 yards (54-B.Marshall) [90-A.Smith]. Caught at CAR 46. 0-yds YAC

2-10-CAR 41 (Q2, :48) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short right to 88-G.Olsen to CAR 49 for 8 yards (43-T.Ward). Caught at CAR 46. 3-yds YAC

1-10-DEN 38 (Q3, 7:32) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 19-T.Ginn pushed ob at DEN 34 for 4 yards (21-A.Talib). Caught at DEN 39. 5-yds YAC

2-10-CAR 19 (Q3, 2:32) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 19-T.Ginn pushed ob at CAR 30 for 11 yards (25-C.Harris). Caught at CAR 27. 3-yds YAC

2-15-CAR 25 (Q3, 1:44) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short right to 88-G.Olsen to CAR 32 for 7 yards (26-D.Stewart). Caught at CAR 28. 4-yds YAC

3-14-CAR 24 (Q4, 7:56) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 82-J.Cotchery pushed ob at CAR 35 for 11 yards (25-C.Harris). Caught at CAR 31. 4-yds YAC

1-10-CAR 27 (Q4, :54) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 82-J.Cotchery to CAR 33 for 6 yards. Lateral to 43-F.Whittaker to CAR 41 for 8 yards (20-J.Bush, 43-T.Ward). Caught at CAR 31. 2-yds YAC by Cotchery; 8-yds YAC by Whittaker

1-10-CAR 41 (Q4, :25) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass incomplete deep left to 19-T.Ginn.

2-10-CAR 41 (Q4, :23) (Shotgun) 1-C.Newton pass short left to 43-F.Whittaker to CAR 47 for 6 yards (59-D.Trevathan). Caught at CAR 42. 5-yds YAC PENALTY on CAR-14-J.Webb, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at CAR 47.

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When looking at all of Cam’s drop backs, it’s clear that the Panthers had many other problems besides their QB in Super Bowl 50. In fact, their QB was possibly the biggest reason they scored at all. He helped prevent a number of bad outcomes and also put his receivers in positions to win, while helping create big plays. On his 48 drop backs, I have Cam rated positively on 21 of them (the 9 “good” plays, the 6 avoided sacks, and 6 of the contested catch throws), neutrally on 19 plays (the 10 inconsequential plays, the 6 sacks that weren’t his fault, and three of the contested catch plays), and poorly on just 8 plays (the 6 bad plays and two contested catch throws). On the biggest stage against one of the best defenses in recent years, I’d consider that a pretty good game. However, unfortunately for the Panthers, bad games from just about every other player on the offense derailed any chance Carolina had at winning.