SEATTLE _ Every time you think the Carolina Panthers' lost season can't get any worse, something like Sunday night happens.
National TV. The eyes of the NFL on the Panthers and Seattle Seahawks.
And Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was benched for the start of a game the Panthers would go on to lose 40-7.
NBC, which broadcast the game, reported Newton was benched for a minor team violation. Sideline reporter Michele Tafoya later reported Panthers coach Ron Rivera described it as a dress code violation.
And that was the moment when the Panthers' 2016 campaign reached the absurd level and came completely off the rails.
That the sartorially minded Newton, who doesn't show up to news conferences until his pink suits and feather-trimmed hats are perfectly in place, was disciplined for a wardrobe malfunction is karma, as Richard Sherman might say.
But when you're the reigning league MVP, a team captain and one of the faces of the NFL, there's no such thing as a minor team violation _ dress code or otherwise.
Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman declined comment about the Newton situation when approached in the press box at CenturyLink Field.
It was the first time in Newton's six-year career he didn't start a game for a reason other than for injury.
Newton went out for the coin toss and had his helmet on as he warmed up on the sideline. But it was Derek Anderson who ran on the field for the first series.
It couldn't have started any worse for the Panthers.
On the first offensive play of the game, Anderson was intercepted by linebacker Mike Morgan on a pass that bounced off the hands of fullback Mike Tolbert.
The Seahawks took over at the Panthers' 8, Steven Hauschka kicked a short field goal four plays later and the Seahawks had a 3-0 lead before the game was 90 seconds old.
Newton was back in the game for the Panthers' next offensive series, which basically tied the unofficial record for shortest benching in history.
Rivera's plan presumably was to bench Newton for the first series. When Rivera has benched starters for breaking team rules in the past _ defensive ends Kony Ealy and Greg Hardy, for instance _ they were held out for all or part of a series.
There are other ways for an NFL coach to discipline players behind closed doors, namely fining them.
That Rivera felt strongly enough to sit Newton down for something like not wearing a tie to the game _ as WBTV reported _ means the sixth-year coach believed it was time to send a message to the quarterback the Panthers took with the No. 1 overall pick in 2011, a few months after Rivera was hired as head coach.
The message also is one that will also reverberate loudly in the Panthers' locker room: No one player _ no matter how important _ is bigger than the team.
Rivera has always erred on the side of defending his franchise quarterback.
After Newton's pouty Super Bowl press conference, Rivera suggested players from the losing team should not be required to do media interviews after the game.
When Rivera was asked specifically about Newton's first-half performance last week in a loss at Oakland _ during which Newton posted a 1.7 passer rating _ he maintained that Newton played well.
But Rivera reached his breaking point Sunday night at the end of a 10-day, two-game trip. The West Coast swing became a road to nowhere for the hapless Panthers, who limp home at 4-8 and have turned in one of the worst follow-ups to a Super Bowl season in NFL history.
Newton's benching had no bearing on how the rest of the game played out. The Panthers were beaten badly by a better team.
But it could have implications on the rest of the reason _ and maybe beyond.
