Cam Newton’s 27 Touchdowns in 2014

Play 17
Situation: 3rd and 1 at NO 2
Description: Q1 - (7: 30) Cam Newton 2 Yd Run (Graham Gano Kick)
Opponent: 14. NO

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Goalline Heavy
Offensive Personnel: 14
Defensive Formation: Goalline

Here is a QB Power draw on the goalline utilizing Newton’s athletic ability to jump over the pile for the score. It looks like Newton fumbles the ball, but he crossed the plain with possession resulting in the score. Watch closely as the left guard pulls across the formation and misses his block almost not letting in the touchdown.

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Play 18
Situation: 3rd and 1 at NO 16
Description: Q2 - (2:20) Greg Olsen 16 Yd pass from Cam Newton (Graham Gano Kick)
Opponent: 14. NO

Offensive Formation: Power-I Heavy
Offensive Personnel: 23
Defensive Formation: Goalline

This is an interesting play call. It’s 3rd and 1, and the Panthers sub out all of their wide receivers for extra tight ends forming the “23” personnel group. TE88 Olsen releases from the blocking package after the play-action is executed to get behind the defense on this fake run play setup. This is a blown assignment by the Saints defense as multiple defenders rush to pick up TE84 Dickson running the drag route and fail to pick up Olsen on the go-route.

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Play 19
Situation: 1st and 10 at NO 26
Description: Q3 - (5:22) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short left to F.Whittaker for 26 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Pass -6, YAC 32 G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 14. NO

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Right Far
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

This play is a screen pass to RB43 Whittaker on the left side of the field after a fake end-around pass to WR16 Brown was used as misdirection to pull the cornerback in man-to-man coverage away from that side of the field.

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Play 20
Situation: 3rd and 2 at CLE 2
Description: Q2 - (2:00) C.Newton right end for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 16. CLE

Offensive Formation: Split I
Offensive Personnel: 23
Defensive Formation: Goalline

This play from I-formation is setup as a fake power off-tackle to FB35 Tolbert on goalline, but instead Newton keeps it for a naked bootleg run to his right.

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Play 21
Situation: 2nd and 9 at CLE 9
Description: Q4 - (7:15) (No Huddle) C.Newton pass short right to J.Stewart for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 16. CLE

Offensive Formation: Offset-I Far Right
Offensive Personnel: 21
Defensive Formation: Cover 2

This play is a mesh concept over the middle of the field that was covered pretty well after the play-action fake to RB34 Stewart. After all of Newton’s reads were covered, he does an excellent job of stepping up into the pocket to buy more time and find Stewart in the endzone for a dump pass as his checkdown. Give credit to the offensive line on this play as well as Newton for keeping his eyes up to find Stewart at the end.

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Play 22
Situation: 2nd and 4 at ATL 5
Description: Q1 - (:10) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short right to E.Dickson for 5 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman. CAR-B.Bell was injured during the play. His return is Probable.
Opponent: 17. ATL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Bunch Right - “Rob” Call
Offensive Personnel: 13
Defensive Formation: Cover 0 with man-to-man across the board.

This is an easy touchdown pass to TE84 Dickson by Newton. The bunch formation and route combinations especially the underneath drag route gains Dickson the separation necessary to beat LB55 Worrilow to the sideline on the shoot route.

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Play 23
Situation: 1st and 4 at ATL 4
Description: Q2 - (1:54) (Shotgun) C.Newton right guard for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 17. ATL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Right
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

Just like in the screen pass in Play 19, the Panthers use a wide receiver end-around to help misdirect the defensive secondary away from the play-side run. Newton takes the snap and runs a QB power to the right like in Play 7.

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Play 24
Situation: 1st and 10 at ARI 39
Description: Q3 - (5:50) Fozzy Whittaker 39 Yd pass from Cam Newton (Graham Gano Kick)
Opponent: 18. ARI (WILD)

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Right Near
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

This is a simple screen pass to RB43 Whittaker like in Play 19 without the misdirection by use of an end-around wide receiver. Give credit to the downfield blocking and especially Whittaker for breaking the tackle of FS26 Johnson which helped him break free for the touchdown run while showing excellent vision to set up his blocks.

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Play 25
Situation: 1st and 1 at ARI 1
Description: Q3 - (4:10) Mike Tolbert 1 Yd pass from Cam Newton (Graham Gano Kick)
Opponent: 18. ARI (WILD)

Offensive Formation: Power-I Heavy
Offensive Personnel: 23
Defensive Formation: Goalline

This is an easy touchdown pass by Newton to RB35 Tolbert in the left flat. The play-action draws in the linebackers that would be responsible for coverage allowing him to escape unnoticed outside to the left.

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Play 26
Situation: 3rd and 6 at SEA 7
Description: Q2 - (7:48) (Shotgun) C.Newton pass short left to K.Benjamin for 7 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 19. SEA (DIV)

Offensive Formation: Empty-Set Shotgun Bunch Right - “Rob” Call
Offensive Personnel: 03
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

This is a quick pass to WR13 Benjamin who beats CB27 Maxwell to the inside on a slant route. Good throw and good separation by Benjamin. As a side-note, when watching Benjamin I feel like he jumps too much over easily catchable balls over the middle of the field. It’s happened multiple times just by watching the touchdown plays.

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Play 27
Situation: 2nd and 1 at SEA 15
Description: Q4 - (2:41) (No Huddle, Shotgun) C.Newton pass short left to K.Benjamin for 15 yards, TOUCHDOWN. G.Gano extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Jansen, Holder-B.Nortman.
Opponent: 19. SEA (DIV)

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Left Far
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

After a 9 yard gain on first down Newton takes a risk and throws the fade route to Benjamin on 2nd down and short against CB27 Maxwell. Benjamin catches it in the back of the endzone with both feet down for the TD. Excellent job of bringing it in for the score.

Overall, the Panther’s offensive strategy puts Newton in shotgun the vast majority of the time utilizing his scrambling ability as a threat to help the run game by opening up lanes for his runningbacks. What I found really interesting was that none of Newton’s rushing touchdowns this year were the result of a read-option play. Instead the Panthers’ utilized Newton’s running ability similar to how a runningback would be used. The Panthers designed more power concept plays by pulling the backside guard across the formation to seal the edge for him. In terms of the passing game, Newton needs to keep working on his deep ball by trusting his wide receivers to get to the ball and not underthrowing them. There were plenty of touchdowns showcased above that could have been deflected if the cornerback turned in time after being clearly beaten off of the line of scrimmage. Since Newton entered the NFL, his progression through his reads has certainly improved as well as his decision-making and poise in the pocket. In my next article we will take a look at Newton’s interceptions during the 2014 season to see what happened.

Click here for all of Cam Newton’s plays in the GIF Database.