Those who listen to me on the radio airwaves or read any of my articles understand full well that I have been a major skeptic of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton over the course of the last season and a half. One of the primary reasons that I have questioned whether he can up his game is due to the fact that he set the bar incredibly high with a record-breaking rookie season back in 2011.
He put up over 4,700 total yards with 35 scores compared to 17 interceptions in leading the Panthers to a surprising 6-10 record a season after finishing with just two wins.
Prior to Carolina's current four-game winning streak, Newton failed to progress as a quarterback and a leader on the football field. During that 20-game stretch, Carolina posted an 8-12 record and Newton committed a total of 20 turnovers. His completion percentage, total yardage numbers and touchdowns also decreased from a stunning rookie campaign.
More than this, Newton struggled with perceived lack of maturity on and off the field.
True leaders would normally stand by their teammates when facing controversy on the field. Instead, this GIF from a 2012 loss to the New York Giants shows Newton pretty much alone on the sideline sulking about what was a horrendous performance.
A majority of young quarterbacks go through spats of immaturity. We saw this with Colin Kaepernick after the San Francisco 49ers' blowout loss against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2. The young signal caller speeded for the locker room without as much as meeting with the opponent in the middle of the field or leaving the scene of the loss with his teammates. Sometimes, it's all about emotion getting in the way.
That being said, Newton has been called out by teammates and Panthers' beat writers for a lack of maturity and leadership in the past. More than that, prior to this four-game winning streak, he hadn't improved a ton on the field or when dealing with the media.
This seems to have changed a great deal, and last Sundays win against the Atlanta Falcons is a prime example. Newton threw two first-half interceptions and struggled with accuracy early in the game. Naturally, our expectations were that he was going to implode on the field. See, Newton hasn't done a great job dealing with adversity in game-time situations during his young career. When things start to go wrong during a game, Newton has struggled lifting up his performance and that of his teammates.
In his short NFL career, Carolina is 4-16 when Newton throws an interception and 14-6 when he plays mistake-free football. In addition, half the games that Newton has thrown an in interception he went on to throw at least one more.
A few different things changed on Sunday. First, Newton did throw a second interception against the Falcons but he was able to rebound with a stellar second half performance. He completed 12 of 17 passes in the second half without a single turnover. Relying on mistake-free football and a quality defensive performance in the second half, Newton helped the Panthers score 20 unanswered points and pull away in a game that was close heading into the half.
That's called taking the next step.
Overall, the numbers are a tad ridiculous during this four-game winning streak.
Newton is completing 72 percent of his passes with 10 total touchdowns and two interceptions for a robust 109.8 quarterback rating. Meanwhile, Carolina has put up 30-plus points in all four games. It's the first time in franchise history that a Panthers team can stake claim to that feat. They had previously scored 30-plus points in three straight games back in 2005.
More importantly, Carolina is now two games over .500 for the first time since 2008 and only one game out of the division lead in the NFC South. If the playoffs were to end today, the Panthers would be right in the mix for the final playoff spot in the NFC with the three teams in the North who boast an identical 5-3 record.
Newton's maturity and consistency on the field is a primary reason for this.
As to where Newton received a ton of criticism for Carolina's lackluster play in 2012 and for the first quarter or so of this season, he's likely going to receive most of the praise for it turning things around over the course of the last month. Such is the nature of playing quarterback in the NFL.
Just remember to remain consistent in your praise or skepticism of the young quarterback. He wasn't the only one to blame for Carolina's below-average play. Its defense was downright atrocious in 2012, which led to Newton having to do too much on the football field on Sundays. The offensive philosophy went away from the ground game, even with a stable of strong running backs. Again, this boxed Newton into a corner as the leader of a one-dimensional offense. That one dimension being his multi-faceted ability to run and pass.
Now that Carolina's defense has taken the next step and is one of the best in the game, Newton simply doesn't have to shoulder as much of the load on offense. Outside of a couple "special" Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks, it's a necessity to have some sort of balance on offense and a strong unit on the other side of the ball. It's not a coincidence that Carolina started to play better when those two things came together.
The ultimate test moving forward will be for Carolina and its young quarterback to continue the consistently good football it has played over the last month.
And it won't get easier.
Carolina goes up against the defending NFC champion' San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick on Sunday. The 49ers have won five in a row by an average score of 35-12 and is coming off a bye week. Traveling out west to take on one of the best teams in football, a rested unit mind you, is going to be an extremely difficult task for Carolina. In short, this could be a career-defining game for Newton. Can he take his performance to the next level against a great defense or will he struggle against the elite of the elite?
All said, six of Carolina's final eight games come against teams that are currently .500 or better. This is going to be a great test for Newton and his up-and-coming team.
When someone like Newton jumps on to the scene with an amazing rookie season, premature expectations are set forth and standards are held way too high. Prior to Newton's 2011 performance, we expected young quarterbacks to go through their growing pains, show a lack of maturity and struggle playing consistent football. Newton set that bar much higher, a bar that was picked up by the likes of Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and Colin Kaepernick last season.
Now that he has the experience and has overcome turmoil, we may finally be seeing the advancement of a quarterback that exceeded any previously set expectations as a rookie.
It's good to see.