Bucs Poring Over Cam Newton Film
July 17th, 2012
A hot topic on glorious SiriusXM NFL Radio, and one on Warren Sapp’s mind, is how Cam Newton will be defended — and respond — in his sophomore season.
And a lot of that focus centers on the Bucs and Greg Schiano’s currently mysterious defense.
Last season, Newton had only five touchdown passes against seven interceptions in four total games against NFC South rivals New Orleans and Atlanta, and the Panthers lost all those games. But against the Bucs, well, Newton padded his stats, gutting and gashing the Bucs on the ground and tossing four touchdowns to zero interceptions. Of course, the Panthers seal-clubbed the Bucs in both games.
Sapp makes the common case that the Bucs and other teams facing Newton will be poring over Panthers game film all offseason and should be able to force Newton to improve or suffer a setback.
For Joe, that means the Panthers-Bucs game is arguably the second most intriguing game on the opening day slate behind the Steelers-Broncos game on Sunday Night Football. Nobody can even pretend to know what the hell the Bucs are going to look like defensively, or what they’ll throw at Newton. And Newton’s going to have a hard time matching his 2011 numbers if the Bucs aren’t pushovers like they were last season. Throw in the Bucs unveiling the run-it-down-your-throat attack, and that should be a damn interesting game.
With the first training camp practice a mere 237 hours away, Joe’s just getting fired up for real football and opening day.
Joe’s got a visual of Greg Schiano holed up today in a 67.2 degree room with a steaming plate of properly cooked pasta studying Newton and figuring out exactly when, where and how he’s going to blitz Lavonte David.
July 17th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Cam will get laid out this year if he plays like he did last year. not saying it was luck, the guy is talented….but if you expose a guy that much, eventually somebody’s gonna lay them out. Let’s hope it’s the Bucs!
July 17th, 2012 at 11:43 am
This year Rivera is going to have to introduce Cam to a professional NFL playbook, no more running the Auburn offense, lets see how he does.
July 17th, 2012 at 11:54 am
I’m getting giddy over the start of the official offseason training! If all can stay healthy and out of trouble our D can be good to surprisingly good. We’ll start to give Cam the Vick treatment.
July 17th, 2012 at 11:55 am
I agree, you keep running Newton like last year and he gets hurt. There is no way this guy gets away with ‘student body left’ like he did last year. He is a talent but that is precisely why they need to protect him. If they don’t, someone will get to Cam this year and I hope it’s us.
July 17th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Agree with everyone thus far.
I think Cam has oodles of talent. Problem is, I don’t think he’s a great QB. He has accuracy issues and if he keeps running the ball, designed play or not, he’s going to get hurt.
Looking forward to that game in a BIG way. I hope we get our sh!t together.
July 17th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
Twice, C. Newton made J. Freeman look like a fat, amateur. Glad Freeman lost the 40 lbs or so.
July 17th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Boy, I hope we can slow down Newton.
The Panthers are scarry on offense, especially running the ball: Newton, D’Angelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, AND Mike Tolbert.
We better be up for tackling ball carriers against the Panthers, I think they have the potential to run all over us.
July 17th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Nobody hit Cam hard last year. The first team to do so will have great success against the kitty cats. I hope that team is wearing red and pewter.
July 17th, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Dini
Twice, really? Do you even watch the Bucs? Josh Johnson played one of the games, not Josh Freeman.
July 17th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Cam Newton is sure a handful, and Carolina is greatly improved from the last draft too. We will need our Fans out there screaming, and our very best game to beat the Panthers.
July 17th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
@Oar dini didnt know that because hes not even a real bucs fan and just spews hate for the team all day.
July 17th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Really excited for this upcoming season! You make an excellent point Joe, the Panthers have no idea what defense they will see in the season opener and hopefully that throws them off just enough to get us the win!
Go Bucs!!
July 17th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
I just hope Mr. LaVonte David gets to know sCam Newton up close and personal…..
July 17th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Break out all the old Michael Vick tapes and watch how the old Tampa2 had his number. Solid tackling and swarm to the football. No where to run Cam Newton so lets see how accurate your arm is.
July 17th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
Sorry; I must have been dreaming about our old defense. Carry on!
July 17th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
@Bucnjim- LOL, oh how I miss our D. I hope we can return to an elite Defensive team. The games back then were much more fun to watch.
July 17th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Just watched some highlights from last seasons BUCS/PANTHERS games. It was like a flashback to that sick feeling in my stomach. Thank god Raheem is gone….. those games are horrible to watch.
July 17th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Lets go ,I cant wait for that first game the bucs are going to crush newton we will be totally different on both sides of the ball.I really beileve were goin win yes,yes yes,lets go bucs lets go ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 17th, 2012 at 3:44 pm
if im not mistaken Mason Foster laid a good lickin on cam, he was not very happy after that hit lol
July 17th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
ANYBODY REMEMBER THE 2002 GAME AGAINST THE FALCONS?? week 15 i think it was. michael vick was “unstoppable” at that point and we used derrick brooks and spied him the entire game and completely shut vick down… how about the same thing here? newton is vick and david is brooks!
July 17th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Joe says:”Joe’s got a visual of Greg Schiano holed up today in a 67.2 degree room with a steaming plate of properly cooked pasta studying Newton and figuring out exactly when, where and how he’s going to blitz Lavonte David.”
1) Lavonte David, an undersized, pursuit-style Will Backer is unlikely to be a candidate to blitz, especially on passing downs as he will have key run gap responsibility and critical zone and man coverage responsibility. (Quincy “Jane” or Mason “out-of-position” Foster) are more likely to be backers called upon to Fire.
2) The Schiano visual sure beats the one of rahrah upstairs at the Press Box slamming cheap draft beer and wings trying to figure out exactly when, where and how he could hold the Falcons to less than 42 points by halftime; or how he would use his bulldog running grandmother to convince the public that his hypertalk was actually mental toughness!
Cam Newton is a freak who scheming is unlikely to make a huge difference with – Newton will either play well, in which case you will need to score a bunch of points or he will play poorly on his own due to facftors out of our control (inadequate prep etc).
The best thing that we can hope for with Newton is that he believes his own press and gets lazy and takes a step back. Newton’s athleticism is unmatched – he is Freeman who runs a 4.4. He is a bigger, faster, better-armed Tebow.
July 17th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
I can almost tolerate Thomas because at least he watches the games. He is just an unhappy person that finds pleasure in being negative. Dini’s Biceps on the other hand is completely intolerable. Stupid post after stupid post after stupid post. It is truly amazing how Cam made Freeman look fat twice, yet Freeman didn’t play in both games. And Freeman was not fat, chubby, big boned, or anything else the idiot wants to call him. The guy is built like a f-ing Linebacker. Maybe if you actually watched the games, you would know that. Funny how nobody complains about his weight when he barrels over LB’s, or picks up first downs on QB sneaks. I have no idea why Joe un-banned you, but you should be banned on the basis of being a complete idiot.
July 17th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Thomas buddy, I think you really need to understand a joke when you read one. Lighten up.
I agree with you on Cam. As much as I hate to say it, that guy is the real deal. The Panthers did not run the Auburn offense. He threw for 4000 yards last year! I’m not saying he’s going to be the best ever, but last year was not a fluke. The guy is nearly impossible to gameplan against, especially if he’s throwing the ball well. I can’t think of a bigger nightmare for a coordinator. Like Thomas said, hopefully he gets full of himself, or maybe takes a page out of the Dez Bryant playbook and slaps his mother around.
July 17th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Hawaiian
I can almost tolerate flatuence, too!
July 17th, 2012 at 5:29 pm
I believe the answer is discipline on defense. Not the fake toe the line and turn the temperature down kind but rush and gap discipline. Not the Gaines Adams, GMC disrupt the backfield kind but stay where you’re supposed to be discipline.
Cam Newton can read what’s going on and take advantage of any breakdowns on defense.
July 17th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Oregano is sniffing around a solid argument:
Your best chance against Cam is to keep him in the pocket and force him to read and deliver a strike. Cam may be the rare qb who is much more dangerous under pressure.
Josh wasn’t fat but he was far from the lean player he is today. I am not sure that that will help him.
July 17th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Cam cn ball but I’m nt on his jock after 1yr like Alota ppl and also so called bucs fans but lets see hw he plays whn there is film on him, anyway all the d has to do is play sound and discipline d oh yea and tackle everything will take care of its self also I would still take free over him anyday go bucs
July 17th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Crazy thing is Newton is going ahead of Breed in some mock drafts. He is consistently number 4. Rodgers, Brady and Brees are usually 1, 2, 3. So he is going ahead of Stafford, Vick, and both Mannings.
July 17th, 2012 at 7:41 pm
@941buc in fantasy football he is amazing, running points are huge.
July 17th, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Winning the opener is always huge, but this year even more so.
July 17th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Hah. Last year was the year of the passing game. I think the Bucs have an interesting chance against Cam and who? Cam is one man. Football is a team sport, and I hope that these Bucs buy into the idea of a team early. Carolina will be the new threat with all the offensive weapons and slightly healed defense, but every year brings news possibilities.
July 17th, 2012 at 10:02 pm
LBs that are fast side line to side line arfe a nightmare for scrambling QBs. look at Vick in his Falcon/dog killing days, he really didnt do alot of damage against the Bucs because our D-line and LBs were fast to cut off the outside. i think this is why David was drafted. hope they keep Cam in check. BUC IT IM OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 18th, 2012 at 6:39 am
Hard for me to judge Cam Newton’s play against the mighty Buccaneers defense of 2011 since it was more like the Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals. In the game at RJS, Newton was laughing at us. That would be the tape I would show this 2012 defense. As one poster said, teams now know what he does best and will attempt to take that away. This is still a team game and is not Newton vs Freeman as some have opined. Need to keep that punk Steve Smith in check.
July 18th, 2012 at 7:45 am
If the Bucs defense can get pressure up the middle and make Cam uncomfortable they will be fine. They also need to lay the wood on Newton when they tackle him and someone will this year. I remember Kiffins defense sending Vick to the pine many times. The Bucs used to own Vick.
July 18th, 2012 at 9:43 am
We had great players to stop Vick, but let’s not forget we also had a guy named Monte Kiffen.
Newton would have been made to look foolish.
It’s a very good opening game, and I agree the Bucs have the advantage of a new scheme.
July 19th, 2012 at 1:57 am
Remember guys, at this time, we are undefeated ! Let’s hear a little love.