CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It should have never taken eight weeks for Cam Newton to return to the NFL. Football and the Panthers are better with him.
The energy he provides is obvious. A week’s worth of build up for his return to Bank of America Stadium showed that. Fans arrived in custom top hats to reclaim their home field all because Newton said so. Then his entrance rivaled a WWE championship-level pop.
When Newton walked out of the home tunnel slowly, white fog covered the Panthers’ home entrance prior to kickoff. A sold-out stadium roared as he took the field while “Coming Home” blasted loudly.
His homecoming finally completed, all that remained was beating his former coach Ron Rivera and the Washington Football Team. Carolina’s pregame swagger would have to translate into on-field execution for any of this to matter. Instead, the Panthers fell short against a freelancing and effective Taylor Heinicke and the Washington Football Team, marking their fourth-straight home loss.
Newton took every snap in the Panthers’ 27-21 defeat to Washington. In his first game in Charlotte since September of 2019, the Panthers experienced similar highs and lows that had plagued their offense through the previous 10 games.
Still, with 90 seconds to play and the Panthers (5-6) down six, Newton had a shot to complete the 17th comeback of his NFL career. However, the drive ended at midfield after six plays traveled only 23 yards. Newton was sacked on a fourth-and-3, unable to evade Washington’s rush.
“We are trying to put the ball in our guys’ hands. That’s no disrespect to anyone else. We went to C-Mac and came up a little bit short.” Newton said. “On the last one, it was a lack of execution. I believe DJ (Moore) won. I hesitated and that is all it takes for a team to swarm you.”
The Panthers’ offense lacked explosiveness all afternoon as only three plays generated more than 19 yards. Entering Sunday, Carolina ranked 30th in explosive pass rate according to Sharp Football Stats with only 26 plays of 15 yards or more.
At times, Newton provided a spark Carolina has lacked. He is still an effective runner, as shown by his 24-yard second-quarter rushing touchdown. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry on 10 rushes. Coach Matt Rhule said he’s happy with Newton’s 7.1 yards per pass attempt. However, Newton didn’t target receivers outside the numbers much, if at all, Sunday. DJ Moore averaged 10 yards per catch, not enough to really threaten Washington’s defense. Robby Anderson had a season-high five grabs but totaled just 30 yards.
Carolina didn’t attack Washington (4-6) deep. Newton attempted one pass deeper than 19 yards, which allowed Washington to sit on underneath routes and focus on line-of-scrimmage throws to running back Christian McCaffrey. The All-Pro running back had 18 total touches, but only 10 rushes. Seven of his carries came in the first half. Newton was effective, completing 21 of 27 passes for 189 yards and three total touchdowns.
Newton’s magic engulfed Bank of America Stadium but didn’t consistently produce firepower. It’s unclear whether he quarterbacked a game plan that called for a dink-and-dunk or if he consistently looked for short throws because that is what he was comfortable with.
It’s important to consider some challenging factors working against Carolina entering this game. Newton earned his first full week of practice and admittedly learned a limited playbook. The Panthers only had time to teach Newton a game plan rather than a complete playbook. Rhule said all week backup P.J. Walker would be a part of the plan but he didn’t see the field.
“We had planned on playing P.J. going in,” Rhule said. “But it seemed like Cam was in control and moving the football. We thought Cam was playing well so we kept him in there.”
Too often, the Panthers’ offensive limits festered, resulting in short-circuited drives. A stagnant offense converted just one of six third downs prior to Carolina’s best drive of the afternoon. Trailing by seven with 10:50 to play, Carolina set up at Washington’s 27-yard line.
Newton had accounted for all the Panthers’ yards on six previous plays. Three runs for 19 yards and three passes went for 29. Then Carolina hit their most explosive play of the game. From a spread formation, the Panthers sent McCaffrey on seam route and Newton hit him in stride for a 27-yard touchdown, tying the game with 10 minutes to play.
But the defense didn’t have an answer for Heincke. The former Panthers’ backup completed 16 of 22 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns. His slippery pocket presence helped Washington convert six of 13 third downs.
Carolina exchanged high-and-low moments with Washington all game. The Panthers went 0-4 on third down in the first half and didn’t do much to correct their critical-down woes after halftime. An inconsistent performance from their defense didn’t help. Washington receiver Terry McLaurin had his way with the Panthers secondary, catching five passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Untimely penalties (seven for 65 yards) hurt the Panthers, perhaps none more significant than a holding call against Taylor Moton on first-and-10 from their own 25. Carolina was down by 3 with 4:13 remaining and the flag negated an 8-yard McCaffrey run. The Panthers needed a score on that drive, but ended up turning the ball over on downs four plays later.
Carolina led the NFL in total penalties entering Sunday.
The Panthers’ rushing defense didn’t come through against a team dedicated to running. Carolina allowed 190 yards on 40 carries. Washington’s concentrated ground game gifted them nearly 11 minutes more time of possession and 16 more offensive plays.
But the Panthers forced back-to-back field goals on Washington’s final two drives, giving their offense a chance to win. Carolina earned one first down on 10 plays over those two final drives.
There is no denying Newton’s return to Carolina was magical. But the Panthers’ offense again couldn’t pull off a game-winning drive even with Superman back.
