Packers Slow Down a Hot Cam Newton on Way to Victory over Panthers

Coming off a nearly 400-yard performance against the Cincinnati Bengals the week before, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton needed to be the focal point for the Green Bay Packers defense in Week 7.

While not necessarily building a brick wall around the mobile QB, the Packer defense was able to slow Newton enough to gain an early lead and force the Panthers to play at Green Bay's tempo.

With a history of dual-threat quarterbacks having success against the Dom Capers era Packers, the result of the Panthers-Packers was a bit surprising. Newton was 17-for-31 passing with an interception, and he was sacked three times. He posted a 6.6 yards-per-attempt mark, nearly half the number of Aaron Rodgers' (11.6). Newton's rating of 72.6 was less than half of Rodgers' 154.5.

While Newton was also able to tack on 41 yards off seven carries on the ground, his longest run was for ten yards, a different outcome than the string of recent highlight-worthy read-option runs put up on the Green Bay defense by Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson.

The Packers were able to play Newton better than they had other dual-threat QBs in part because of their offense. Starting off hot, as it did against the Chicago Bears earlier this year, Green Bay was essentially able to play keep away from the first quarter on. While Carolina's early drives stalled, the Packers' first three marches ended in touchdowns—a Rodgers-to-Jordy Nelson 59-yard connection, an Eddie Lacy five-yard run and a James Starks 13-yard scamper.

From that point on, the Panthers couldn't simply adhere to their game plan, as they needed to ride Newton's arm to come back from 21-0 deficit. Be it on the ground or through the air, he was the one player on the squad talented enough to orchestrate such a feat.

The mission could have been accomplished if the game were played a couple days earlier. Late against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday both starting cornerbacks, Sam Shields and Tramon Williams, went down with injuries. Deep into the week, neither Shields or Williams were practicing. Luckily, for Green Bay, only Shields missed the game, as Davon House, a cornerback rotating in with Casey Hayward as the third cornerback on the team, was credited with a start in Shields' place.

That wasn't the only move the defense had to make, though. Still missing due to injury was defensive lineman Datone Jones, a second-year first-round selection out of UCLA. In place of him in the starting lineup was another second-year player, Josh Boyd, a Day 3 selection out of Mississippi State that is a more traditional defensive lineman than the penetrator he was set to replace.

Two changes that the defense made to the starting unit that weren't impacted by injury were the additions of Sam Barrington and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Barrington is a second-year player out of the University of Southern Florida who had totaled six tackles in his career up until Sunday. To say him as a starter was a bit shocking would be an understatement, but previous starting inside linebackers Brad Jones and Jamari Lattimore have had notably below average performances in Green Bay in 2014.

Clinton-Dix's promotion, on the other hand, comes to no one's surprise. After showing the world how green he was against the Seahawks in the season-opener, he's been visibly improving each week. Last week, the former Alabama safety had his best game to date.

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With the potential Clinton-Dix has displayed, there can be no complaints judging the secondary on the curve of the recent past. If he continues his progression, he could be a key piece not only to the Packers secondary or defense, but to the team overall.

With the expectations placed on first-round picks, it's safe to assume that the front office and coaches believe the same.

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With all of those moving pieces on defense, the Packers needed to lean on something like a three-score lead to mask some of their issues. Luckily for them, they were able to get that early lead which allowed them to pin their ears back and get to Newton and try to force a big play.

The big play is Green Bay's goal on defense. While some NFL defensive coordinators opt for a bend-but-don't-break style of defense, Capers seems to be one to take risks. It shows up in the stat sheet for the Packers, as they were above average in sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries on defense heading into the week. Green Bay was even second in the league in interceptions.

Against Carolina, the Packers were able to notch three sacks, six tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and an interception. Julius Peppers was the only player credited with more than a single sack and quarterback hit. Clay Matthews, though, was able to net one of each, answering some of criticism of his regression in play in 2014.

At the end of the game, Rodgers compared the defense's performance to that of their Super Bowl team:

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Rodgers: "Defense is playing like the 2010 season. We're starting fast." #Packers

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 19, 2014"

Carolina was clearly an important measuring stick for the team. The game was a situation in which Green Bay could have shown again that it could lose to a dual-threat QB in the same way it previously had, but the Packers didn't come close to losing the game on Sunday.

The defense has shown progression as a unit. Now, still controlling their destiny in the NFC North, the Packers have confidence to push through their 2014 slate.