Tampa Bay Buccaneers Beware: Cam Newton's the Real Deal

I have two words of warning for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Cam Newton.

The Battle for the Basement of the NFC South is on for Sunday and Cam Newton is coming to town.

Despite Carolina's Buc-like 3-8 record, Newton is playing like a current and future star in this league.

Sure, Raheem Morris tells us that stats are for losers, well, okay, let's take just a moment then to compare theirs against our, quarterbacks that is.

Without a day of experience and then there's the famous Buccaneer excuse that there were no OTAs and no serious training camp, that hasn't stopped Newton from looking like the NFL Rookie of the Year.

A closer examination of the Auburn Heisman winner's performance shows the following:

Passing:   239/392;  3,093 yards; 61%; 12 touchdowns, 14 interceptions.

Rushing:   86 carries, 464 yards, 5.4 yard average, 10 touchdowns.

Pretty darn impressive, yes?

Now for Josh Freeman, who is in his third season:

Passing:   254/411; 2,715 yards; 61.8%; 12 touchdowns, 16 interceptions.

Rushing:  38 carries, 157 yards, 4.1 average, two touchdowns.

Raise your hand if you thought Josh Freeman would be better than Cam Newton before this season started.

Thought so. In a major turn of events, Newton has been the darling of the league when it comes to over-achievement, while Freeman has been a major underachiever this season for the Bucs.

A tale of two quarterbacks will play out on Sunday at Raymond James and right now you'd think this game will be a very tough one for the Bucs.

Carolina has had the same problems as the Bucs on defense. They haven't consistently been able to stop anyone. Yet on offense, they appear to have more weapons than the Bucs with two running backs, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

That one-two combo has run for just under 1,000 yards then you add Newton into the mix and you have a three-headed rushing monster.

One of the knocks on the Tampa offense is that there is no wide receiver who can stretch the field. No so in Carolina. Steve Smith is the guy and the secondary better pay attention to him.

What it all adds up to is two teams with seven wins between them.

Carolina wasn't expected to do much this year and the Panthers haven't. Tampa Bay was expected to be better than it has and it has been a massive failure through 11 games.

Carolina rolls into this game Sunday fresh off a 27-19 win over still winless Indy. The Bucs beat Indy 24-17.

Sure stats are for losers.

It's loser vs. loser on Sunday.

So who is the NFC South's Biggest Loser?

If you're Josh Freeman and the rest of the Bucs, the last thing you want is to get shown up in your house by a 3-8 team with a rookie quarterback.

Pressure's on the Bucs.

Isn't it?