Out here, the talk has all been about Cam and the way he conducts himself. Here's my own opinion on it. I don't like it and feel like sports, in many ways, humbles people. We see it all the time in many shapes and forms. A God like Bo Jackson was gone in the blink of an eye. Mobile qb's like Randall Cunningham, Michael Vick and so on had their flashes and then, voila, became nothing more. They will go down in football lore to a degree but also will be long forgotten. There won't be any statues of them outside of stadiums. And while Cam may win it all this year (or not), I have a feeling he's going to find out the hard way that repeating and being so dominant (against a far tougher schedule moving forward) is much more difficult, if not impossible. Especially as the Panthers have to begin to re-sign and replace players. As injuries occur. He's gonna have guys gunning for him and getting hurt himself as he ages. And players may laugh right back all the while. Why? Because he shows no humility or respect for the game and quite frankly, we oftentimes get what we deserve.
I don't offer any ill will on Newton. But it would be sort of fitting. And my gut tells me, with all the talk this week about Cam and the way the line has moved, Wade Phillips is gonna call his opus and Manning is gonna play slightly better (and wr's will actually catch balls) and they'll win 24-20.