Cam Newton Rises to MVP Favorite with Thrashing of Washington

After a week spent talking about Cam Newton's dance moves, the five-touchdown performance he dropped on an underrated Washington Redskins defense Sunday in a 44-16 win at Bank of America Stadium ensures we'll spend next week talking about how he's the NFL's most valuable player.

After attending the Carolina Panthers' Week 10 win over the Tennessee Titans, Rosemary Plorin of Nashville, Tennessee, penned a complaint letter to the Charlotte Observer. Plorin claimed her nine-year-old daughter made precociously uptight observations about Newton's celebrations—and kicked off another round of tired national debate about Newton, perceptions of his character and the ways fans police the behavior of black athletes. 

Newton has faced criticisms on another front, too: Analysts have looked at his underwhelming numbers and continued to downplay his MVP candidacy.

Coming into Week 11, Newton was ranked 22nd in NFL passer efficiency rating, per Pro-Football-Reference.com, and 18th in adjusted net yards per attempt. He was 17th in Football Outsiders' defense-adjusted yards above replacement, 21st in ESPN QBR and generally sat at the bottom of the middle third of NFL passers in just about every measurable way.

So why were analysts such as Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport touting Newton for league MVP?

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

The answer, simply, was to watch him play—and see how often Newton made something out of nothing, elevated his teammates and overcame adversity when those teammates let him down. Looking strictly at passing numbers, of course, also overlooks Newton's 382 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. 

The only quasi-objective metric that captured what Newton was doing on the field was Pro Football Focus' film-grading system; Newton was PFF's fifth-highest-graded quarterback through 10 weeks.

Then, against Washington: 21-of-34, 7.2 yards per attempt, a career-high five touchdown passes and zero turnovers.

His first came on the Panthers' second drive, a play action to tailback Jonathan Stewart followed by a dump-off to Stewart. As is Newton's personal tradition, he gave the game ball to an eager kid in the stands (wearing his replica of Newton's No. 1 jersey, of course).

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

For a time, it seemed Washington's offense was capable of keeping up with Newton. Quarterback Kirk Cousins recognized a rare blown Panthers coverage and hit speedy receiver DeSean Jackson for a 56-yard touchdown to help tie it at 7-7.

Newton and the Panthers answered back with a 13-play, seven-minute, 45-second drive that ended with a three-yard flick to all-purpose back Mike Tolbert for another touchdown. When Andre Roberts returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, it looked for all the world like this was going to be a shootout.

Washington didn't score another point. Not on purpose, anyway.

After the two teams traded three-and-outs, Newton led the Panthers on an 92-yard, eight-play drive that ended with his 100th career passing touchdown:

A Matt Jones fumble on his own 24-yard line set up another Newton touchdown, this time to stalwart tight end Greg Olsen. On the subsequent Washington drive, another fumble gave Newton the ball back on the Panthers' 38. The clock cut short Newton's attempt to score another touchdown before halftime. Instead, the Panthers took a 31-14 lead into halftime thanks to a Graham Gano field goal.

Washington took over at the start of the second half. Carolina strip-sacked Cousins on the very first play from scrimmage. Newton...wait for it...capitalized with a five-yard touchdown strike to rookie Devin Funchess.

It turned out to be Groundhog Day for Washington; toward the end of the third quarter, All-Pro candidate Josh Norman stripped tight end Jordan Reed, and the Panthers pounced on it. On the ensuing Carolina drive, Newton made the kind of well-placed, well-weighted deep throw his detractors forget he can make—a 35-yard connection with Funchess to help set up a field goal (at the 1:02 mark of the video):

After that, Washington only scored again when Panthers punter Brad Nortman ran out the clock with an intentional safety.

Detractors will probably find ways to poke holes in this performance, like crediting the defense for recovering all those Washington fumbles. But there have been plenty of times Newton's made incredible plays that have seemed humdrum on the stat sheet; it's only fair he get full credit for taking advantage of the opportunities he got.

After Sunday, Newton's touchdown-to-interception ratio will improve to 20-9, finally above the magic 2-1 mark. His passer rating for Sunday was 123.3, per ESPN.com; it's the fourth straight improvement of 10 points or more since his 59.2 rating against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7.

His 2015 stats won't match those of high-volume, hyper-efficient triggermen such as Tom Brady and Carson Palmer, but they won't be a stumbling block for his MVP candidacy anymore.

As Newton's numbers continue to improve, even the most ardent statheads won't be able to deny he's the beating heart of the undefeated Panthers (10-0)—and even the most pious, pearl-clutching poindexters will have to concede Newton's fun-loving approach to the game is an asset, not a sin.

"Keep your personality," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera told Newton and the team before the game, according to the Associated Press' Bob Leverone (via the New York Times). "Play with energy, but maintain your focus."

The Carolina Panthers will go as far as Newton can take them—and a quick glance at the Panthers' remaining schedule reveals that if he keeps his focus, he could do something even Brady's never done: go 19-0.