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[bengaldoug]

I'm just shocked that he has been able to call plays and read defense



Me too.... I thought he was a project who would take a couple of years to develop....I knew he had the physical ability, but I thought the mental aspects of quarterbacking would hold him back for awhile....I was wrong.....

 

[flamingrey]

Cam Newton has a quarterback rating of over 85 and has already thrown for over 1000 yards on a team that last season was completely inept on offense. Through 3 games (a very small sample) he has much better stats than other recent quarterbacks taken first overall. None of this is speculation - It is fact.

I'm just shocked that he has been able to call plays and read defense - Everyone was so sure that this simply wasn't possible.

"He's been a very good quarterback in his first 3 games" is different than "through 3 games...".

The first statement can be "deniable" as he wasn't very good last night and the 2nd was a good game at best considering the 3 interceptions. The second statement however (as in an average of 3 games) is much closer to "fact". Just make up your mind which argument you want to make.

As for reading defenses, by all reports I've read, he didn't do much of it in his 1st game. They would call a play and more times than not, he went to his initial read. I did watch quite a bit of the 2nd game, but only the 2nd half where he mostly struggled. He played well in the 1st half, but haven't read a recap regarding how he was reading the Packers' defense. 3rd game, didn't see nor read a report on how he was reading the defense (his numbers don't suggest anything good). That said, I have to disagree on this one, the jury is still out. Not sure if he can read defenses, nor can I say he can't read defenses.

 

[Restore the Roar]

I think you through out this weeks game. You see a game played in that kind of rain a couple of times a decade.

 

[cincygrad]

Against Green Bay Cam Newton threw for over 430 yards and averaged over 9 yards a clip. He added another 50 on the ground while averaging over 5 per carry. Neither team never led by more than 10 points, so it wasn't the case that he simply picked up a bunch of yards in crunch time. He threw 2 interceptions to a great, veteran quarterback...... No shame in that.

When you find me a stat that measures how well someone 'read' a defense, please let me know.

 

[flamingrey]

Against Green Bay Cam Newton threw for over 430 yards and averaged over 9 yards a clip. He added another 50 on the ground while averaging over 5 per carry. Neither team never led by more than 10 points, so it wasn't the case that he simply picked up a bunch of yards in crunch time. He threw 2 interceptions to a great, veteran quarterback...... No shame in that.

When you find me a stat that measures how well someone 'read' a defense, please let me know.

He had 3 interceptions that game. Whether 2 of them went to a great corner or not is besides the point. They still count. You can't just discount them.

Stats are supposed to be used as a tool in addition or evidence of what you see on the field. It's a silly argument to suggest you need stats to know how well someone can read a defense. Analysts have spoken to the fact that the first game Cam didn't do much "reading". The second game the Packers confused him into at least 2 of his interceptions. Whether he was actually "reading" the defense the other times or going to his initial "read" or initial "target" (based on play call) is either one of our guesses. Likewise for the 3rd game. So, sorry to burst your bubble, but based on the limited and mixed stats, and the analysis of analysts for at least one game, your opinion is not any more valid than mine.

Heck, even Bengals fans were raving about how poised Dalton was and how well he was reading the defense (especially after the Cleveland game), etc. There were only a few of us calling out how he wasn't doing as much reading as his initial targets just getting wide open. Lo and behold, he looks like crap last night. Horrible reads, horrible throws. This is stuff you get from WATCHING games, not looking at a stat sheet. Jury is still out on him as well.

*Edit: Also regarding the GB game, of his first 18 completions, 9 of them were to his RBs either a screen pass by design or as a checkdown. He ended with 12 of 28 (123 yards). That's a significant number to a RB for anyone. Point being, just because he's putting up huge yards on the stat sheet, doesn't mean he's doing great reading defenses. In this particular case he was either going to his initial read (RB for screen) or he was being "bailed out" (checkdown). As far as the latter, you can call that a good "read" as opposed to making a bad pass in coverage, but that said, you can't say for a fact he didn't miss a read or was too slow making his reads in coverage before checking down. But go ahead and stick with your stat sheet.

 

[cincygrad]

What's it matter? You can spin anything the way you want to spin it. We have several folks around here that will tell you that Big Ben isn't a good quarterback. He's lucky. He doesn't read defense. He is only good when the pocket breaks. He has always had a good D. But at the end of the day, Ben has 2 super bowl ring and another appearance.

Cam Newton was a phenomenal talent coming out of college and a winner. His combination of physical skills and production was rare. I expected big things of him. My evaluation of the kid is that he is better than I expected him to be in his first NFL action. You can agree or disagree as you see fit.

 

[flamingrey]

What's it matter? You can spin anything the way you want to spin it. We have several folks around here that will tell you that Big Ben isn't a good quarterback. He's lucky. He doesn't read defense. He is only good when the pocket breaks. He has always had a good D. But at the end of the day, Ben has 2 super bowl ring and another appearance.

Cam Newton was a phenomenal talent coming out of college and a winner. His combination of physical skills and production was rare. I expected big things of him. My evaluation of the kid is that he is better than I expected him to be in his first NFL action. You can agree or disagree as you see fit.

Exactly, which is why it's silly RIGHT NOW to be making claims like Cam is reading defenses well or whatever other claims people are making aside from a high-level analysis of his performance in any particular game (which is why more than once I've said "the jury is still out"). This becomes less "spinnable" with a much larger sample size. That's when you can differentiate between the haters and the rational.

And I have never said he hasn't looked better than I expected him to the first 3 games. He has. But that isn't saying anything regarding his potential, his overall ability on the field right now, or how well he's picking up certain nuances of the game.

 

[Tubbs1518]

God ban this troll please.

 

[flamingrey]

I'm sorry if you can't follow a decent, intelligent conversation.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Lets take a poll on here and see who has more intelligent conversations with people, me or you. I guarantee you I blow you out of the water.