The Broncos haven't faced many (any?) quarterbacks like Cam Newton, partly because there aren't any quarterbacks like him, partly because they've faced primarily pocket passers -- not dangerous running threats. But it turns out that goes both ways.
Denver had the league's best pass rush last season, and Carolina's schedule included few such defenses. In 2015, they only faced three opponents ranked in the top 12 in terms of sacks. Maybe that's what those of us floating the idea of a Broncos upset should cling to. Newton hasn't seen a pass rush nearly as good as Denver's.
You have to include the 2014 season to really get a good sample set to work with. In that season, Newton faced five teams ranked in the top 12 in sacks. Of course, he's developed and improved his game since then -- he's a better quarterback now. But at least it gives us a reasonable number of games against top pass rushes to work with.
In those eight contests, Newton was sacked 29 times (an average of 3.6 per game). He was over 220 passing yards just three times, with 15 total touchdowns (12 passing, 3 rushing).
Dismiss 2014 Newton if you wish. But he doesn't have a lot of experience against a pass rush as good as Denver's.
| NEWTON VERSUS TOP-12 PASS RUSHES, 2014-2015 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp | Result | PaYds | PaTD | INT | Sacked | RuYds | RuTD |
| 2014 | DET | W 24-7 | 281 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 0 |
| 2014 | @ BAL | L 10-38 | 197 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 2014 | @ GB | L 17-38 | 205 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 41 | 0 |
| 2014 | @ PHI | L 21-45 | 306 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| 2014 | @ MIN | L 13-31 | 194 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 49 | 0 |
| 2015 | HOU | W 24-17 | 195 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 76 | 1 |
| 2015 | GB | W 37-29 | 297 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 1 |
| 2015 | @ TEN | W 27-10 | 217 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 1 |
| Averages | 237 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 35 | 0.4 | ||
--Andy Richardson