Cam Newton: Panthers Rookie QB Has Nothing to Be Ashamed of After 1-3 Start

Cam Newton has proven to be everything the Carolina Panthers could have hoped for when they selected him No. 1 overall in this year's draft.

The problem is, the rest of the team is still playing like they're stuck in the year 2010.

After a 2-14 season last season, the Panthers are now 1-3 after their 34-29 loss to the Chicago Bears, and it has nothing to do with Newton.

Newton barely missed his third 400-yard game of his young career Sunday against the Bears, passing for 374 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He led the Panthers to 34 points—the most the Bears had given up all season. Keep in mind, the Bears had already played the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.

Newton has used star wideout Steve Smith to his full advantage (eight catches, 181 yards on Sunday), but he's also shown the rare ability to spread the ball around as a rookie signal-caller, connecting with six different receivers against the Bears. On top of that, he rushed for 35 yards and two touchdowns, showing that his legs will still help him plenty against the faster defenses of the NFL.

Newton was clearly frustrated on Sunday, saying, via The Washington Post:

"

I’ve never had the mentality of losing in my whole life. For a person to tell me you can’t win them all, that’s a loser’s mentality. I play the game and I want to win every single game I play. Obviously it hurts when I lose.

"

But it's not Newton's fault.

Head coach Ron Rivera took all the blame on Sunday—as well he should have. The special teams unit ceded two huge returns to Chicago's Devin Hester that basically decided the game; one a 73-yard kickoff return that set up a touchdown and another a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Said Rivera:

"

This falls on me, first and foremost, as the head coach. We had a plan and we felt good about the plan and unfortunately we didn’t execute the way we needed to.

"

On top of this, the Panthers gave up a whopping 205 yards rushing to Bears running back Matt Forte, including a 17-yard touchdown scamper.

Newton can only do so much. He's already proven a good deal of his doubters wrong so far, including this writer. The concerns about his accuracy have been erased by his ability to simply get things done.

How the Panthers are playing right now is the kind of thing that can destroy a young quarterback's confidence.

Perhaps Rivera said it best:

"

As the rest of us catch up to what’s happening with Cam — because I think some of us aren’t growing at the same pace — when the rest of us catch up with him, I think we can be a better football team.

"

Who knew the rest of the Panthers would be trying to "catch up" to a rookie quarterback coming into this season?