Panthers (-3) @ Broncos

[blotsfan 2,112]

The concussion protocol is garbage. The NFL should make it so if you don't call a player for the concussion protocol when he should be, it's a 1 game paid suspension for the player.

[Vin+ 3,121]

And so it begins.

 

 

The NFL Players Association is reviewing whether the Panthers followed proper concussion protocol with Cam Newton Thursday against the Broncos.

Newton was down on all fours after taking a monster helmet-to-helmet hit from Darian Stewart early in the second half but returned for the following series. Cam struggled after that, though he did lead Carolina down the field for a potential game-winning field goal in the fourth quarter. Under new league rules, teams that fail to follow the concussion protocol could be subject to heavy fines or even a loss of draft picks. For what it's worth, Newton should be fine for next week's tilt against San Francisco.

Source: Dan Graziano on Twitter

[Thanatos 2,847]

Would not at all be surprised if they didn't. I said myself to get him out of there and that was with :36 left in a one point game. You can't treat Cam differently because he's your star QB. One game is not worth the long term consequences.

 

That said, the NFL is a fucking joke on player safety and now a national audience got to see that. They allowed the Broncos to go after Cam's head all night and didn't call anything except the one penalty that got offset, (that is weird as fuck too, because if Cam just hangs onto the ball and eats the sack, its nullified by the penalty, but throwing it away results in offsetting penalties).

 

I don't want to say Remmers redeemed himself, because the SB is a different animal, but he did a good job on Von last night.

 

As far as Gano not being good under pressure, we're all going to remember the misses, but last year he won two games with last second kicks- the Giants, and the Colts. And the Colts game he had to do it twice, once to tie the game that if he misses, its over, and then once to win.

 

I also think what ATL said about kickers getting the free practice kick is actually in the rules as being something they can't do, was worried about them calling delay of game on Gano there.

[BwareDWare94 723]

It's really hard to be mad at a kicker for missing a potential GW FG of 45+ yards. I mean, it's not like this was 27 yards, left hash, to go to the divisional round...

[oochymp 2,393]

NFL.com coverage of these hits is hilarious

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Fuck all that noise, if that was Stafford out there getting wrecked the way Cam was I would of been raging. How many of the hits were flagged?? One??

 

I get Cam is a big guy and he scrambles a lot so it's harder to officiate but don't make certain rules and standards applicable to some players and not applicable to others. Regardless of how big you are, you get concussed, and CTE the same.

 

Lowering your helmet and launching at a QB in this league with some of these QBs would get these tacklers ejected. The fact that they weren't even penalties last night is crazy.

[Thanatos 2,847]

I'm honestly just as mad at Carolina's coaching staff as I am at the officials. You CANNOT leave Cam in there. You simply can't. He flopped like a fish after that last Stewart hit. I legit think he was knocked out for a couple seconds watching the replay.

 

I know there is :40 left and I know DA isn't going to lead us to a potential GW FG, but I don't care. This is your franchise QB. You get him the fuck out and you put him into protocol.

 

Denver has some dirty ass players, and despite what sure as hell looked like targeting, Cam still put us in position to win the game- in Mile High- with a kick Gano makes 2 out of 3 times. (10/16 on 50+).

 

I hope all the Denver fans claiming Carolina fans are just crying about the blatantly illegal hits because we lost will say the same when Sieman inevitably gets rocked by a shot to the head that isn't called.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Thanatos

[BwareDWare94 723]

It's just the nature of today's game, man. We all get frustrated when our QBs don't get these calls.

As for Denver having dirty players--I think it has more to do with the fact that they're aware of how great they are as a unit, so there's no leash on their aggressiveness. They know that if they make mistakes on any single play, they'll be able to recover or they'll minimize the impact of that one mistake. They get called for a lot of personal fouls, or at least it seems that way, but I can't remember the last great defense that didn't.

 

I'm not saying that there shouldn't have been more penalties called against them, but I think that's why they're so aggressive. I don't know if they actively decide that "we're going to hit the guy in the head" so much as they don't worry about it because they can overcome it if it does indeed happen and they get called for it.

[Thanatos 2,847]

Everyone else's QB except the Steelers DO get those calls.

 

You're allowed to hit Cam and Big Ben in ways you aren't allowed to hit Tom Brady and Carson Palmer. Period.

 

Love this article, lol: https://medium.com/sportspickle/cam-newton-facing-suspension-after-repeated-helmet-to-helmet-hits-on-defenseless-broncos-defenders-e267649d5d2d#.ji13ojnrp

[Thanatos 2,847]

From ESPN Stats:

The penalty called against Darian Stewart on Thursday was the first time there was a roughing-the-passer penalty called against a Panthers opponent with Cam Newton at quarterback since Week 11 of the 2014 season against the Falcons.

 

Yeah, Cam Newton gets those calls just like anyone else.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Thanatos

[theMileHighGuy 656]

https://twitter.com/BSNBroncos/status/774105475667271680

 

Not saying it wasn't illegal, not saying it shouldn't have been flagged, just saying Darian Stewart is not and has never been a dirty player, and wasn't targeting the head. His level never changed, he was going for the numbers like they're taught to do, and Cam went down. They hit shoulders first, and helmets clapped. Can't control it.

[Thanatos 2,847]

He's aiming way higher than Cam's numbers, sorry. And that was the second time Stewart hit him in the head that night.

 

I'm not saying he's a dirty player, but that was a dirty hit, one of many the Broncos delivered last night. There are very few people outside of Denver fans who think otherwise.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

Stewart only hit him once. We confirmed on the gif of all the hits that 3 and 4 were the same hit.

 

They play hard. It's what made them the best D in the league.

Edited September 10, 2016 by theMileHighGuy

[Thanatos 2,847]

There was a different hit at the beginning of the second half that isn't in there. He hits him with the crown of his helmet under Cam's chin. It was only dirty because it was half a second after Cam got rid of the ball.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

I'm sorry, but I can't let it go. I understand you're seeing red, but look at the 3 pictures, he's aiming exactly at the numbers. The third picture, his shoulder is at the same height as the top of the 1. Cam gets hit in the back of the legs and then he drops and they hit shoulders. He never aims at his head whatsoever.

 

 

 

This, then, should have been a penalty by your own criteria : https://zippy.gfycat.com/OilyOptimisticChihuahua.webm

Edited September 10, 2016 by theMileHighGuy

[oochymp 2,393]

This, then, should have been a penalty by your own criteria : https://zippy.gfycat.com/OilyOptimisticChihuahua.webm

do you really expect us to judge a hit based on half a second?

 

On Cam, he does make it really hard because of the way he plays, scrambling/running and waiting until the absolute last second to throw the ball. That said, the headshots are exactly what the NFL says they want to get rid of. You can say whatever you want about where he was initially aiming but once a player lowers his head he really has no clue what he's going to hit, and that's the problem the NFL is supposedly addressing with hit to the head penalties. To be clear, I'm not entirely sure I fault the Broncos on it, if the refs aren't calling it you're gonna do whatever you can. That stat about Cam's last roughing the passer penalty is insane, I'm not sure when the last time I watched a game that didn't have at least one RTP call so the fact that he's gone over a year without getting one is truly unbelievable. The issue here IMO is the inconsistency of how calls like this are made based on who the player is.

Edited September 10, 2016 by oochymp

[Thanatos 2,847]

I'm sorry, but I can't let it go. I understand you're seeing red, but look at the 3 pictures, he's aiming exactly at the numbers. The third picture, his shoulder is at the same height as the top of the 1. Cam gets hit in the back of the legs and then he drops and they hit shoulders. He never aims at his head whatsoever.

 

 

 

This, then, should have been a penalty by your own criteria : https://zippy.gfycat.com/OilyOptimisticChihuahua.webm

 

How the hell is that a penalty? He uses his shoulder to lay a RB out from behind. Does he even hit the helmet? It looks like shoulder to shoulder to me but I can't really tell due to the speed of the gif.

 

Darian Stewart, on the other hand, leads with his helmet. He launches upwards at the last second, pushing off the ground with both feet. I honestly don't know how Denver fans can't see that, lol. It's whatever, the NFL is going to fine him because its obvious to anyone but Broncos fans that Stewart's hit was illegal.

 

Marshall will get fined out the ass too. But whatever, they got a win, they don't care.

 

Also, the Brandon Marshall hit was far far worse. If the NFL really cares about player safety, (they don't, as was proven last Thursday night), suspensions have to start happening for headhunting like Marshall pulled. This is a blatant cheap shot, launching into the head of the QB, leading with the helmet, after the ball is gone. https://twitter.com/paddypower/status/774158307137236995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

That hit is completely and utterly inexcusable and Marshall should sit a game. It won't happen, but its the only way to get through to players that play to try to hurt other players.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Thanatos

[BwareDWare94 723]

I'm with Thanatos on the Marshall hit. That was targeting at its most obvious. I don't see the Stewart hit as malicious, but Stewart gave his best Brandon Meriwhether impression on that play.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

Thomas Davis hits shoulders with CJ then their helmets clap. Darian Stewart's shoulder hits Cam first, he doesn't lead with the helmet lol.

 

 

http://gfycat.com/GeneralWhoppingFoxterrier

 

This was the only hit in the second quarter. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this one.

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVG5KI-SzU

 

Don't often agree with Ray Lewis.

Edited September 10, 2016 by theMileHighGuy

[Thanatos 2,847]

Probably shows that you're wrong if you're agreeing with Ray Lewis. As far as your gif, that sure as hell doesn't look like Stewart.

 

There is absolutely nothing similar about TD's hit vs Stewart's and I still don't see TD hitting helmets with the RB- that's A. B, given that its from behind, there is nothing illegal about it.

 

Stewart launches and definitely leads with his helmet. No question at all. Frankly, only Broncos fans and a few select others (those without the gift of sight) deny it at this point. As I said, NFL will fine both of them, and the Broncos won't care and will continue playing dirty. It's going to take an injury to a marquee player off one of their dirty hits for the league to levy some well-deserved suspensions.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

That's not Stewart, it's Jared Crick. You mentioned another hit at the start of the second half so I tried to find it while I was making gifs for the official boards. That's at the end of the second quarter so I thought you might have meant that one. Either way, it's another one Panthers fans are up in arms about (for no reason).

 

The only other hit Cam takes in the 3rd that hasn't been talked about is this one from Shaq Barrett:

 

http://gfycat.com/WelldocumentedElaborateGorilla They're not gonna throw a flag on that, ever, for any quarterback. Hopefully Shaq will just stop and let the QB throw uncontested the next time he's in that situation. It's not late or anywhere close to Cam's helmet/chin.

 

Cam was the victim of two bad hits in the game (Skip Bayless says one in that video). But, Panthers fans are seeing red and making it out to be like it was 10 shots to the chin hours late. Like Ray and Shannon said, don't take football out of football. I don't think the BMarsh hit is getting any attention because Cam didn't fall down or react to it on the play, even though it most certainly should be getting the most attention. Jumping that late and going straight for the head has no place in football.

 

edit:

 

 

 

Not saying it wasn't illegal, not saying it shouldn't have been flagged, just saying Darian Stewart is not and has never been a dirty player, and wasn't targeting the head. His level never changed, he was going for the numbers like they're taught to do, and Cam went down. They hit shoulders first, and helmets clapped. Can't control it.

 

Charles Woodson just said this exact same thing on Sportscenter this morning, almost word for word.

Edited September 11, 2016 by theMileHighGuy

[Thanatos 2,847]

What it basically comes down to is this, given Denver's own comments over the weekend:

 

"We can't take Cam down within the rules, so breaking the rules is justified." Numerous Broncos players have stated they have to treat him like a RB because he's too big and strong. We KNOW this is BS because they handled him just fine in the SB within the rules. There were a couple head to head hits back in February but I don't think they were targeting him or anything. Just incidental contact. Not to mention, RBs aren't allowed to take headshots like that either, but I digress.

 

The rest of the league knows how dirty Denver is now. You see, there's a difference between a great defensive team because they are fantastic at playing defense and a great defensive team that is great because they play fantastic defense and supplement it with cheap shots. The first one you respect. The second one, well.

 

Once it is known that a team is dirty and is willing to do stuff like rip a guy's helmet off by throwing him with his facemask and potentially breaking his neck, or that they will take headshot after headshot after headshot to a QB's helmet in order to "rattle" him since you can't do it the legal way, that defense gets a target on their backs.

 

Just saying, not gonna be surprised at all if Brandon Marshall or Darian Stewart or anyone else on that defense really, (guilt by association, not fair, but its what will happen), has an O-lineman throw a cheap chop block or something else on them.

 

And frankly, I won't be the least bit sorry if its Brandon Marshall. Fucker doubled down on that hit today and justified it talking about how big Cam is and how that's how you have to hit him. Bullshit.

 

Good luck with the rest of the season. Moving onto the 49ers now.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Thanatos