Tough day for Cam Newton and the Panthers. They had the surprising 34-10 win at Arizona, but now it’s clear there are still major flaws with this offense.
Newton at Miami completed only 5 of 21 passes, and for only 92 yards, with 2 interceptions. Using the NFL’s complex passer rating system, that works out to an unusually bad 5.8. (One finishes with a 39.6 passer rating simply by throwing incompletions on every play.)
Since 2000, only 14 other quarterbacks have attempted at least 20 passes in a game and finished with a passer rating under 10. Only eight finished lower than Newton.
| PASSER RATINGS UNDER 10 (20 att min) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opp | Result | Com | Att | Yards | TD | Int | Rate |
| 2000 | Anthony Wright, Dall. | at Ten. | L 0-31 | 5 | 20 | 35 | 0 | 2 | .0 |
| 2003 | Tim Hasselbeck, Was. | Dall. | L 0-27 | 6 | 26 | 56 | 0 | 4 | .0 |
| 2004 | Jeff Garcia, Cle. | at Dall. | L 12-19 | 8 | 27 | 71 | 0 | 3 | .0 |
| 2015 | Peyton Manning, Den. | K.C. | L 13-29 | 5 | 20 | 35 | 0 | 4 | .0 |
| 2020 | Brandon Allen, Cin. | Balt. | L 3-38 | 6 | 21 | 48 | 0 | 2 | .0 |
| 2014 | Andy Dalton, Cin. | Cle. | L 3-24 | 10 | 33 | 86 | 0 | 3 | 2.0 |
| 2019 | Sam Darnold, NYJ | N.E. | L 0-33 | 11 | 32 | 86 | 0 | 4 | 3.6 |
| 2012 | Brandon Weeden, Cle. | Phil. | L 16-17 | 12 | 35 | 118 | 0 | 4 | 5.1 |
| 2021 | Cam Newton, Car. | at Mia. | L 10-33 | 5 | 21 | 92 | 0 | 2 | 5.8 |
| 2001 | Kerry Collins, NYG | v. Balt. | L 7-34 | 15 | 39 | 112 | 0 | 4 | 7.1 |
| 2009 | Jay Cutler, Chi. | at Balt. | L 7-31 | 10 | 27 | 94 | 0 | 3 | 7.9 |
| 2002 | David Carr, Hou. | at S.D. | L 3-24 | 6 | 25 | 87 | 0 | 2 | 8.2 |
| 2009 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | Buff. | L 13-16 | 10 | 29 | 119 | 0 | 5 | 8.3 |
| 2005 | Alex Smith, S.F. | Ind. | L 3-28 | 9 | 23 | 74 | 0 | 4 | 8.5 |
| 2003 | Kurt Kittner, Atl. | at N.O. | L 20-23 | 8 | 27 | 80 | 0 | 2 | 8.7 |
The Panthers, remarkably, have finished with fewer than 190 passing yards in six straight games (and just 177 and 207 in their two games prior to this streak). Hard to believe this team in September passed for over 300 yards in three straight games – back when it was considered a given that up-and-coming coordinator Joe Brady would be a head coach in 2022.
They’ve got consider work to do during their upcoming bye week. When they return to action in Week 14, Matt Rhule says it will be Newton who’s starting at quarterback.
—Ian Allan