by Derrik Klassen

The Carolina Panthers have faced no shortage of personnel change over the course of the year. Tight end Greg Olsen was the first to go after falling victim to a broken foot in Week 2 that left him sidelined until Week 11. Wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin was then shipped off to Buffalo before the trade deadline, leaving room for rookie offensive weapon Curtis Samuel to step up in his place. Samuel broke his ankle a couple weeks later on a dropped touchdown pass. As if matters could not get worse, right guard Trai Turner has been out for the past month due to a concussion and wide receiver Damiere Byrd is expected to remain out with a leg injury. Carolina's offense is a who's-who of practice squad players and career backups.

Once again, the burden of the offense has been thrust upon quarterback Cam Newton. Newton, the NFL MVP two seasons ago, is more than capable of carrying an offense, but doing so with as little talent around him as he has right now has been a challenge. Newton finished the year with career-lows in ANY/A and yards per completion, while accumulating a career-high 139 carries for 754 yards.

More so than ever before, Newton has been the lifeblood of the running game, while also trying to change his passing style to be more quick-game oriented. The talent drop-off throughout the season and the Panthers receivers' inability to get open in the quick game (or at all) only magnified Newton's necessity to run. In every way imaginable, the offense became something entirely different than what it was supposed to be in Week 1.

Such a reliance on Newton is a double-edged sword. On one hand, Newton is a top-10 quarterback who is not far removed from MVP-caliber play, and his ability to take over games is well documented. Conversely, the offense around Newton is barren in a way that does not allow him to slip up or miss a beat. Newton has to be firing on all cylinders or the offense dissolves into nothingness. As a result, the offense may fall behind on the scoreboard, and Newton responds by becoming reckless with his decision-making, failing to dig the Panthers' out of the deficit. Last week's meltdown versus the Atlanta Falcons highlights the dangers of Newton not being perfect in a given game.

Newton regularly locked onto targets and skipped on checkdown options against the Falcons. Though Newton is aggressive in nature, he is normally more calculated than he was last weekend. Newton was clearly pressing for throws that were not there.

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It is third-and-10 early in the second quarter, the Panthers already down 7-0. The Falcons show a Cover-0 blitz look pre-snap, but transition to a man-free (Cover-1) defense post-snap. Newton locks onto Olsen, who is split out left as a wide receiver, and does not even think about throwing to anyone else. Newton fires to Olsen without hesitation, though Olsen's route never crosses the line to gain and Newton knows the safety is abandoning the running back to help disrupt the pass to Olsen.

In Newton's defense, running back Christian McCaffrey whiffed a block on linebacker De'Vondre Campbell, allowing the defender to quickly get free and pop Newton during the throw. It may have been the pressure that confirmed to Newton he needed to throw to Olsen and release the ball immediately. Nevertheless, Newton made a questionable play.

Fortunately for the Panthers, Newton settled in later in the second quarter and throughout the third. Newton provided a handful of special plays that few other quarterbacks could mimic. In spite of a rocky start by himself and a poor supporting cast, Newton kept the Panthers in the game for a while.

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This is prime Cam Newton: surveying the intermediate portion of the field and hanging in the pocket to deliver a critical strike.

Newton begins the play by opening up to his right. Newton is looking for Devin Funchess, but cornerback Desmond Trufant is draped all over him. Newton realizes Funchess will not create separation at the break of his route.

With a cool demeanor, Newton brings his eyes back to the other side of the field to find Olsen on an out route. Olsen is hardly open at the time Newton rears the ball back to throw, but Newton's velocity fits the ball right into Olsen's chest without allowing the defender to catch up to disrupt the throw.

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Early in the fourth quarter, Newton tossed this beauty to Funchess to set the Panthers up for a field goal that cut the Falcons lead to 16-10 Few quarterbacks could have made this throw in the fashion Newton did. Newton first exhausted the options to his left, looking for Kaelin Clay sprinting down the numbers and Olsen crossing the field. Newton then redirected his attention to Funchess late in the down, but never brought his feet with him to make the throw. Footwork be damned, Newton rocketed a 44-yard pass to Funchess, who did not have much separation on the cornerback. As the old adage goes, there is no defense for a perfect pass, and Newton has the potential to provide them at any moment.

However, Newton's heroism did not last. With 4:20 left in the fourth quarter, the Panthers were tasked with first-and-10 on their own 25-yard line, trailing 19-10. A touchdown drive would not have been enough to clinch a tie, but the Panthers needed a touchdown to make a possible game-winning drive easier.

Newton immediately threw the game away.

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McCaffrey and Funchess were open on Texas and drag routes, respectively. Newton could have taken the yards, especially from Funchess, and hoped the player got out of bounds. It would have been a risk, in its own way, to keep the clock running, but it would have at least kept the ball in Panthers possession. Newton instead looked for Olsen, who Newton had been targeting all game in pressure situations. Olsen never gained any separation from linebacker Deion Jones, but that did not deter Newton from attempting the throw anyway. Jones was able to disrupt the catch point and tip the ball up, giving safety Keanu Neal a layup interception.

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On the ensuing possession, Atlanta kicked a field goal to further their lead to 22-10. Carolina got the ball back once more and surprisingly drove down the field, only for Newton to throw another interception with 10 seconds left in the game.

Newton knew he was pressing, and admitted as much in a post-game press conference. During the presser, Newton also mentioned he has to understand receivers will not be found "scot-free" in the open field from here on out. Considering the offense is down to practice squad players and hobbled veterans, it is not wrong of Newton to be aware of that, though it is abnormally candid to speak about it.

Week 17 in Atlanta, both the on-field product and the post-game reflection, accentuated the dilemma Carolina's offense is tasked with: Newton has to be at his best -- or else. At times this season, Newton has been able to overcome the situation, but Newton has just as often crumbled under the pressure. Carolina's playoff fate relies primarily on whether or not Newton can play to the MVP standard that he has in the past.