The Panthers knew their offense would change with a new coordinator.
They didn’t know Cam Newton would suddenly become a precision passer.
Through two games, Newton has completed 69 percent of his passes, which is by far a career high (61.7 percent in 2013 was the previous high).
“I just know I have to be on my best, not behavior, but playing at my best,” Newton said, via Brendan Marks of the Charlotte Observer. “Putting this team in the best situations possible, and understanding trust is the main thing.”
Part of that is trusting Norv Turner, and part of that is running back Christian McCaffrey catching 20 safe passes, which was part of the plan when they used a first-round pick on him last year. But Panthers coach Ron Rivera said part of it was about Newton improving as well.
“Everybody points to how many touches Christian had coming out of the backfield,” Rivera said. “Well a big part of the reason was because Cam went through his progressions. He was patient, he went through his reads, he didn’t try to force balls in, and he threw check-downs when he needed to — and that was huge.”
Newton’s never going to be a Drew Brees-type passer in terms of accuracy, but he’s able to do other things that other quarterback cannot. But being more efficient and adding more versatile weapons for Newton gives them a chance to sustain an offense than in years past.