Following the New Orleans Saints' Week 3 road thrashing of Carolina, defensive lineman Cameron Jordan chided the Panthers' attempts to remake Cam Newton's game.
"Clearly he's trying to be more of a pocket passer, and I'm OK with it. Perfectly fine with it," Jordan said with a smirk after the 34-13 shellacking.
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The Saints' defense frustrated Newton to his worst game of the season. The QB tossed three interceptions on 17-of-26 passing for 167 yards, was sacked four times, threw zero touchdowns, and earned a season-low 43.8 passer rating. Newton added three rushes for 16 yards -- with a long of 10 yards -- including a three-yard TD run.
Since the early-season struggles, the Panthers have scrapped the plan to make Newton a pocket passer. The QB is averaging 8.6 carries per game since Week 3, rushing for 328 yards and three TDs in the past eight tilts. Reverting to the 2015 script has opened the Panthers offense. Carolina is averaging 213.3 rushing yards per game since Week 9.
"I wouldn't say that I wasn't 'allowed' to run," Newton said Wednesday of his previous matchup against the Saints, via the Charlotte Observer. "You know, who knows. Let's just let the game come to me, and try to dictate to the defense, take everything the defense gives to me whether it's a 2-yard rush or a 20-yard pass, it doesn't matter. I think the team who controls the ball the most, protects the ball the best, is usually the team that has the most success."
Jordan sacked Newton twice in Week 3 -- two of his 10 on the season. The loss of Alex Okafor to a season-ending injury forced the Saints to rework their D-line, which affected the pass rush in last week's defeat to the Rams.
After frustrating Newton to his worst game of the season, how Jordan and the Saints corral the QB this time around will be a pivotal matchup in a crucial NFC South matchup.
"At the end of the day, it looks like he's running back to what he normally is, so we've got our hands full]," Jordan said Wednesday, [via The Times-Picayune's Josh Katzenstein. "Early on in the year, he was trying to be more of a pocket passer, and now he's back to running that high-octane, read-power-option stuff and it's clearly working.
"They're out there making some nice plays, so we've got to be disciplined and try and get after the quarterback."
