WCG Key Match-Up: Bears Defense vs. Cam Newton

Daunte Culpepper before his injury

and other sorts of classic Tampa2 against Newton. Blitzing him isn’t likely to get much pressure because of his athleticism and the only chance Newton has is to get big plays. If the Bears just play better run defense than they have in the past few games, they should be fine. Newton is prone to throwing picks and he’s just not experienced enough to beat the 2-deep safety looks. This is exactly the kind of offense the Bears are built to dominate, much like when the Bears played Philly last year. Sit back and tackle well and don’t give up any big plays. Putting 6-7 guys in coverage is a better way to contain Newton from breaking off big runs as the underneath zone guys (Briggs, DJ) can “spy” him. Conversely, the Bears offense can look to put up big pass numbers against a suspect Panthers secondary, but I hope they do it by using play action, 3-step quick passes, and quick hit runs early. The Panthers are good on the d-line, so stay away from misdirection runs and deep drop passes and it will take away their effectiveness and force some marginal LBs to make plays.

Warren Moon in his prime. I would say Cam’s athleticism is actually better then any of the QB’s we have listed, just because he’s an amazingly built guy.

Every LB I have heard that goes against him gets surprised as Newton is built like a truck, and incredibly hard to bring down.

Peppers is our best pure freakish athlete that has the greatest chance to bring Newton down one on one.

has no one mentioned McNabb? I mean: mobility, arm strength, overall build…very similar
McNabb was much more of a scrambler early on, tho. Kinda awesome that newton’s already got a pocket-passer mentality, in the sense that he is a throw-first kinda guy.
Should be a handful, but we got Lach and Pep…2 of the best defenders of their era, and boy can we make Cam suffer…

I better see his ass and face on the ground come Sunday. I’m gonna go outside and go give a wedgie to some little kid if the Bears blow this one.

The Bears D is perfect against his style of play. Pressure on the edges will fluster him into making some bad decisions in the passing game.

And the D needs to behave a lot better than they did on the past two games. Sure, what ultimately cost us the games was the lackluster offense BUT even if they produced ok, they never seemed much in control on either Brees or Rodgers to win us the game, particularly early on against the Packers.

I believe the best way to control Newton is to lure him into a false sense of security, then force into making risky throws. And Hitman is the only guy I trust on this roster to undercut a receiver and break the pass or pick him up on those bombs of him, and for shorter passes, Lach will have to be at his best. The front four should be enough to keep him under pressure – sure he looks a lot harder to tackle than those scrambling wonders like Vick, but we have Pep. Even if doesn’t come close to him, we can take a couple of receiving options away just by making him run away from the side Pep is.

Anyway, if on the offensive side we do worse than against the Punthers last season, we’re both screwed for the game, and in need of a lot of changes. I’m asking about 250yds passing, but most important. most running plays going over our 3.2 average at this point.

I think he reminds me of a better version of Big Ben.

When it comes to opposing defensive fronts vs. Newton he struggles more with strong DTs that than edge rushers; if the center and guard are pushed back into his pocket he seems to get far more flustered than if someone is coming around the edge. Almost all three of his interceptions against Green Bay came when he was forced to move out of the pocket because the DTs collapsed it, rather than impending pressure from Clay Matthews.

As for coverage, the key is to remove the big play threat. This is where I think Hitman will really help you guys. If you can force Newton to pass short a lot he seems to get frustrated and a little desperate to make a big play and that’s when he starts forcing the ball deep. However, if he completes a few big passes he seems to get a lot of confidence and he can go on a tear.

Don’t be too concerned about big runs from Newton. As you’ll see on Sunday he has that potential, but he’ll almost never run unless there are literally no passing lanes left. He’s not a Michael Vick type runner at all, much more like Aaron Rodgers who will take off only when all other avenues are exhausted. His longest run of the year was 12 yards, that gives you a sense of what he’s done.

Again, I’ve just got to note that the Bears’ fanbase is awesome. Far and away the most even keel opponents we’ve talked to this year.

TE Greg Olsen, Jeremy Shockey, RB’s DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, and WR Brandon Lafell who’s coming into his own. With the exception of Steve Smith those are not household names

De Angelo Williams – Carolina Panthers Single-Game Rushing Touchdown Record (4)
1× Pro Bowl selection (2009)
1× All-Pro selection (2008)
Carolina Panthers Record for most rushing yards in a season (1,515)
Carolina Panthers Record for most rushing touchdowns (18) and total touchdowns (20) in a season
December 2008 NFC Offensive player of the month

Jonathan Stewart and Williams were the first rushing duo in NFL History to rush for 1,100 yards apiece.

Jeremy Shockey – 4× Pro Bowl selection (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006)
1× All-Pro selection (2002)
2× Super Bowl champion (XLII, XLIV)

Greg Olsen is one of the top te in the game…

The only person in this statement that “casual” fans wont know is Brandon Lefell

The only household name we have on the offense is Matt Forte. Devin Hester and Johnny know our two “Pro Bowl” wr’s both receive praise for their SPECIAL TEAMS play and only made it because of it… Then we have Roy Williams the only WR to make the pro bowl for his receiving stats was an alternate who only made it because Torry Holt withdrew to injury… seems to me we are the ones with the Who’s who on offense

Here Vick is the small and lightning fast scamper, Cam Newton is a true freak of nature. And he definitely has a great arm to pair with Steve Smith going down field.

I would be more worried about the Panthers having a few QB draws made up just for Newton. He resembles a giant bruising FB playing QB, so you can bet he can run the ball between the tackles.

This D-Line needs to penetrate, gang tackle Newton to the ground, and keep him on the turf. I definitely don’t want to see LBs blitzing in a scheme where they are needed in pass coverage. But, I would also expect Brian Urlacher and/or Lance Briggs to be on plenty of QB Spys.