Cam Newton's Splashdown: How Do You Judge a Quarterback in a Deluge?

Cam Newton has hit on just 10 of his first 20 passes for Carolina this week against Jacksonville, so on the surface of it, he’s not the player he was in Weeks 1 and 2, when he was over 400 yards both times.

However, you have to factor in the torrential rains that have everyone but Noah running for cover in Charlotte.

The game is so rain-inundated that the television cameras are having trouble delivering a good watchable picture.

Small wonder than that Newton is coming back to earth in Week 3.

The question is, can he be blamed for not being able to move the ball in such a mess? One would think not.

On the other hand, you have to play the hand you are dealt, and Newton at least had the Panthers out in front until the final play of the first half, when the Jaguar quarterback Blaine Gabbert got his first NFL touchdown as time ran down.

He hit Mike Thomas over the middle from 36 yards out, with Thomas catching the ball at about the 10 and sloshing his way into the end zone from there.

Newton, for his part, did have a 60-yard pass completion of a short pass to Jonathan Stewart that got the ball down to the Jacksonville 6, but that play was reversed on review.

The game is now being played on a field full of standing water, and it seems it is going to be difficult to make any judgments about anybody doing anything on this day.