Agree. I'm a Panthers fan tho not a Cam fan. Having said that- I re-watched that fumble many times. He might have hesitated a second- but he still went after it. The Panthers IMO were the better team but they had the big game jitters (as the Eagles did this year.) They had some bad breaks and then made some mistakes- and it spiraled on them. Whatever else you want to say about Cam's character- I won't contradict you. (Not directed at you Orangeblue- general "you.") But his record speaks for itself. And the fact is that he's in very small company with a Heisman, a natty, and an NFL MVP and Super Bowl appearance. And he was the major driver of his team's success in college and in the NFL unlike say, Peyton w/ the Broncos in 16. In my experience- success is never an accident, so Cam definitely was doing something right.
Excellent post. Cam had a litany of issues, and had no problem flaunting his bravado and arrogance, but that season he put the Panthers on his back every week and showed his penchant for winning. As I stated earlier, it's interesting to see how permanent narratives can be attached to a player depending on the outcome of one game...if the Panthers found a way to beat old Peyton that day, Cam's career and legacy is viewed in a completely different light.
You can’t play qb like Earl Campball for long. Learn to exist in the pocket or burn out quick. Qb’s tend to improve over time as their physical abilities deteriorate but if you can’t walk you can’t play.
It’s so much easier for a qb to make a mistake than carry a team. There have been several snaps winning qbs that were nowhere near as talented as Mahomes but game manager is really important on top of the talent they all have. Just don’t eff it up.
Part of what made him so special was his ability to get out of the pocket and create. It obviously caused him to take more hits than necessary which shortened his career (not to mention all of the late hits he would regularly take with no flag), but any team with him at QB was going to live and die with him being a dual-threat.
The duel threat part has to be used very sparingly. If a qb can’t be successful without his legs, he will never be great. Many of the greats used their legs when neck but they could all win games without running. Just the threat of the run was a weapon though.
He threw for 35 TDs and only 10 picks that season and only averaged 8 rush attempts per game, I'd say he had plenty of success throwing and they used his running ability sparingly. He simply ran into a great defense and having a lack of weapons on offense ultimately cost them.
But like Andrew Luck, he has too many collisions to last long. Eight rushes is about half a rb and they average less than 4 years and almost never see the field in their thirties. Great qbs are usually their best in their thirties.
How about ONE play..... Bill Buckner. Sorry to hijack the flow of the threat for a baseball reference but you make a very good point.
All that play did was give the people who already weren't fond of him more of a reason to not like him.
