Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers swept past the Arizona Cardinals with ease on Sunday. The 30-20 scoreline flattered the visiting Cardinals, and the performance provided optimism for a Panthers team that has disappointed so far this season. At 2-5, the Panthers’ chances of making the playoffs are slim, but they remain mathematically in contention. That was little comfort for Newton, who wasn’t happy after the game.
The Panthers starting quarterback articulated his frustration about the hits he takes and how officials treat him. In the post-game press conference, he said: “At times, I don’t even feel safe. I plan on talking to Commissioner Goodell about this. Hits to the head, that’s one thing, but when you’re not protected in the pocket, that’s another thing. I just can’t keep accepting ‘Oh we missed that one’ or ‘I apologize for doing that’ or ‘I didn’t see it.’ That’s horsecrap. That’s horsecrap.”
Newton’s comments were provoked by a low hit from Cardinals defensive lineman Calais Campbell. On that play, Campbell dived into Newton’s shin during his throwing motion. Although the hit didn’t appear to be malicious – and Campbell apologized – it was most definitely illegal.
The NFL’s rulebook is lengthy and convoluted. You can explore how lengthy and convoluted at NFL.com. The rules for hitting the quarterback in the pocket are pretty straightforward. You can’t hit him after he has released the ball, unless you were committed to hitting him before the ball left his hand. You can’t hit him in the head and, most importantly in this instance, you can’t hit him on or below the knee.
It’s one of the easier rules to adjudicate. On this specific play, it was blatant. Campbell didn’t hit Newton on the knee or just above it, he dived into his shin well below the knee. He wasn’t hidden by a tight pocket or coming from a position where the officials wouldn’t get a proper angle; he and Newton were in space. This is the easiest of calls for an official to make.
In general, officiating in the NFL is bad. Officials aren’t employed full-time, so they’re not being developed or refined during the off-season. There is no accountability for officials who consistently miss calls, or at least the accountability that does exist doesn’t appear to actually hold anyone accountable. The man at the helm of NFL officiating, Dean Blandino, regularly frustrates fans and coaches with his incoherent defenses of poor calls while also spending time on Twitter trolling fanbases for calls that were previously missed.
Newton’s complaints about the quality of officiating are justified. He didn’t stop there, though. “When you constantly see the hits, when you constantly see flags being picked up, when you’re constantly seeing flags not being thrown, and to see other quarterbacks getting it on lesser hits. It’s taking the fun out for me. I’m just being honest with you.”
The caveat is Newton’s point about other quarterbacks getting it on lesser hits. You won’t find a player in the NFL who hasn’t at one point felt victimized by officiating, but Newton has a legitimate case. In 2015, Newton played in 19 total games. Not once over those 19 games was an opponent penalized for roughing the passer.
According to Football Outsiders, Newton was sacked 34 times and hit another 32 times last season – 66 in total. Tom Brady had 37 more combined hits and sacks, he had five more roughing penalties go his way. Aaron Rodgers also had five more while being hit and sacked 116 times. Notoriously undersized Drew Brees had seven roughing penalties go his way while absorbing 90 hits. Ben Roethlisberger was hit and sacked 45 times in total and even he had two roughing penalties called in his favor.
The three quarterbacks with the most rushing attempts last year – Russell Wilson, Tyrod Taylor and Newton – combined for four roughing penalties on 250 hits and sacks. The reasons for the roughing penalties are all different, and tracking hits is an exercise in subjectivity, but the contrast between how officials treat the “pocket passers” and the “running quarterbacks” is clear.
Newton’s actual stretch without a roughing-the-passer penalty lasted longer than that one season. According to Blackandbluereview.com, Newton played 26 games and threw 649 passes between his previous roughing penalty and his first in 2016. That streak ended in week one, when the wider NFL audience got a glimpse of how Newton was/is being treated.
The Denver Broncos brutalized Newton on opening night. The Broncos repeatedly hit Newton in the head to the point that multiple defenders were fined afterwards. Brandon Marshall had the worst hit of the night. After Newton escaped pressure initially, he was moving towards Marshall. Newton flipped the ball to a receiver for a big gain before Marshall left his feet, launching straight up like a torpedo into the face of the Panthers quarterback.
Not only did the officials not call this roughing the passer, they actually penalized the Panthers for holding. Newton was left dazed as the big play was erased and his offense marched back 10 yards. Darian Stewart’s hit was bad but not as bad as Marshall’s. It was recognized as an illegal hit and called as such, but there was one problem. The roughing the passer penalty didn’t stand because Newton was penalized for intentional grounding. The fouls offset. Intentional grounding exists for quarterbacks to avoid big hits, it makes no sense that intentional grounding would offset a late, illegal hit as if they are equal penalties. An opponent hasn’t been flagged for roughing the passer on Newton since that play, so technically his streak is still ongoing.
Several of Newton’s team-mates complained on his behalf after that game. Many media members did similar. Newton said it wasn’t his place to question the officials. As has been the trend with NFL players and their health, Newton’s patience ran out when his knees, rather than his brain, became the target. That’s not a criticism of Newton, it’s just the reality of where we are right now. But it should also be noted that it’s easier to recognize low hits than hits to the head. Hits to the head happen quickly so it can sometimes be hard to distinguish between them and hits to the chest or shoulder. When a player dives at the quarterback’s knees or feet, it’s generally obvious.
The NFL disputes that Newton is unfairly treated. They suggest that 11 more quarterbacks have had more missed calls go against them since 2013. Unfortunately, the NFL doesn’t have any credibility in this area considering their general lack of transparency coupled with Blandino’s track record. Once an official even told Newton he wasn’t old enough to get a call. That official was Ed Hochuli, whose son just happened to become an employed official recently when the NFL needed new blood. The nepotism of just hiring an established official’s son captures the NFL’s overall approach to its officials. Something that hit its peak during the replacement ref era in 2012.
After week one, Marshall said: “The guy is a big defensive end playing quarterback. What are we supposed to do? We’re going to treat him like a running back.” This is the real problem with Newton’s treatment.
Optics play a huge role in officiating. You can see it in different areas of the field. Defensive backs who deliver bone-crunching hits get flagged if the play looks dangerous, even if it’s completely legal. It happens so often that defenders are now pulling out of plays completely for the fear of being flagged. With most quarterbacks, hits don’t need to be big to convince officials that they were illegal. Take the plays from Kirk Cousins and Derek Carr. Neither player was hit illegally or even hard, but neither Carr or Cousins are imposing figures, so officials flag the hits.
Newton is a quarterback like any other, but officials see him overshadow the defenders who hit him, and struggle to see past his size advantage. Ben Roethlisberger suffered from a similar affliction during his prime. Defenders like Marshall treat Newton like a running back, so it naturally follows that officials mistakenly do, too.
Panthers tight end Greg Olsen outlined this after week one: “If he ran the ball 10 plays in a row as a running back, when he is a passer, he is a passer. Period. We’re not saying Cam should get different rules than anybody else. Call the rules the same for every single person who is the quarterback. [He’s] treated like a running back. And he’s not. He’s a quarterback, who happens to be big and fast and strong.”
