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Cam Newton can pass, or run, Panthers to Super Bowl

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Cam Newton is playing like an MVP this season and it could result into a trip to the Super Bowl for the Panthers.Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Cam Newton is playing like an MVP this season and it could result into a trip to the Super Bowl for the Panthers.

CHARLOTTE — There are moments when he drops back and launches the deep ball like Aaron Rodgers, other moments when he improvises like a king-sized Russell Wilson. He runs the option as easily as some quarterbacks run the no-huddle — and he runs it as part of his own ultra-efficient no-huddle.

And when he takes off and runs? He does so with the caution of a QB — until he gets near the goal line and transforms into a bruising, brawling running back.

It’s a rare blend of talents that is almost unfair. And Cam Newton knows it.

“How do you want to attack defenses?” he says. “I feel as if I bring a unique way in some ways. For me, it’s always trying to be unique in a sense to be able to do what others do but also be able to put my own signature on it.”

That signature is scrawled all over the Carolina Panthers’ magical 2015 season in every possible way, from the league’s most iconoclastic offense to the touchdown routine that is equal parts heartwarming and controversial. And on Sunday night at Bank of America Stadium, Newton will try to sign it one more time, willing his Panthers past the Arizona Cardinals and into the Super Bowl with a win in the NFC title game.

“People will be talking about the 2015-2016 Carolina Panthers for years to come, and shame on us if we don’t capitalize on it and that’s what’s pretty much important for us as a team,” Newton says. “For us, we know what we have in front of us.”

The Panthers have this opportunity because Newton has finally come of age in his fifth season. The other QBs in the NFL’s final four — New England’s Tom Brady, Denver’s Peyton Manning and Arizona’s Carson Palmer — are all 36 or older, and that has Newton, 26 and oozing charisma, perhaps poised to take the mantle as football’s finest QB after powering the Panthers to a league-best 15-1 regular-season record.

The tools were always there from the moment Carolina drafted him at No. 1 in 2011, and they were obvious when he opened his career by passing for a rookie-record 422 yards in (oh, the symmetry) Arizona. The offense was instantly erected around him, with the Panthers taking advantage of a rare 6-6, 260-pound QB with the speed of Seattle’s Wilson and an arm as good as any in the league.

Newton can kill opponents with his arm as much as he can with his legs.Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Newton can kill opponents with his arm as much as he can with his legs.

But it wasn’t until this season that Newton grew dominant. In 2015, he passed and rushed for fewer yards than he had in his rookie season, yet still piloted an offense that leaped from NFL mediocrity (21.2 points per game in 2014) to a league-best 31.3 points per game. Panthers receiver Jerricho Cotchery, who spent three seasons with Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, says that’s because Newton learned to manage the game and command his offense.

“It’s Madden-type stuff: You create a player who can run, throw, do all that stuff,” says Cotchery, as he points to his head. “But at the end of the day, if you don’t have this, it won’t matter. He (Newton) has that, that ‘I’m gonna get it done’ attitude. Then that’s an MVP-type season.”

Or maybe even something more. Maybe the beginning of a legendary career, muses safety Roman Harper, who spent eight seasons with Drew Brees and the

Saints before joining Carolina last year. Harper recalls how Newton sealed a win over the Tennessee Titans in mid-November with a designed QB run near the goal line late in the fourth quarter.

Newton tried to reach the ball over the goal line, but seemed stonewalled by three Titans. So he palmed the ball, reaching it out a basketball player extending for a finger roll, then bowled through the defenders with Marshawn Lynch-like brutality, finally getting into the end zone.

“It’s not supposed to happen like that,” Harper marvels. “His combination … I’ve never seen before, because he’s big, athletic, and can do all these things. And any time you have longevity … I can see his trend of success continuing.”

Newton does it all in an offense unlike any other high-echelon unit in the NFL. The other QBs left standing are statuesque pocket passers, and each relies on a high-powered receiving weapon. Carolina, meanwhile, will trot out a largely anonymous receiving corps that’s led by return-man-turned-top-option Ted Ginn, then let Newton mix deep shots with handoffs and designed runs.

And no team in the league is more comfortable calling designed runs that let the quarterback act as a battering ram. Newton led all QBs with 132 carries, leaving plenty of demoralized defenders in his wake.

“He is a monster, per se, at the quarterback position,” Cardinals corner Patrick Peterson says. “He presents some different challenges, but he’s definitely grown over the years as a passer, as a leader for that Carolina football team.”

It’s those last two characteristics that have pushed Newton to superstardom and propelled the Panthers to within a game of the Super Bowl. He continues to throw the occasional ball too hard, so much so that rookie Devin Funchess says he’s still adjusting to Newton’s throws, but the QB has learned to distribute the ball.

In each of his first four seasons, Newton would lock onto targets, focusing on Steve Smith early in his career, relying on Kelvin Benjamin last year. But, in part because Benjamin was lost for the year to an ACL injury in training camp, Newton debuted a new equal-opportunity passing style, targeting a career-high five receivers at least 50 times on his way to a career-low 10 interceptions.

“Cam spreads the ball around. It’s great,” says second-year wideout Brenton Bursin. “And he’s gotten way better at that over the last couple years.”

All those unique and exciting tools will be on display on Sunday. Newton knows they must be, because for all his talent, there’s no guarantee he’ll get this far again.

“I used to dream of being in this type of position,” he says. “I idolize quarterbacks who would be in these positions. (But) who (knows if it) is promised for me to be back in this position again?”

Tags:
carolina panthers ,
cam newton ,
nfl playoffs ,
arizona cardinals ,
nfl

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