NFL Hot Button Topic of the Week - Dalton vs Newton - NFL - Sinestro1982

Here's the link to my blog containing the article: http://blackandbluewreckingcrew.tumblr.com

This is in response to that ridiculous article written by Ashley Fox.

Is winning really everything as far as grading a National Football League Quarterback? What about if you’re grading two NFL quarterbacks who are up for rookie of the year honors?

“It is the only statistic that ultimately matters. Andy Dalton has it, and Cam Newton doesn’t: wins. Dalton has seven. Newton has three,” said Ashley Fox, a journalist for ESPN.com.

There are certain variables at play here that are unfortunately left out of a completely one-sided take on how well these two quarterbacks are producing. Some of which are immeasurable, others that are quite tangible.

The first is that the Cincinnati Bengals are currently ranked in the top five for total defense. Carolina is ranked 24th. The Bengals are ranked 11th in pass defense and Carolina is ranked 15th (not too much of a difference). The Bengals are ranked 5th in rushing defense giving up 92.7 yards a game and Carolina is ranked 28th giving up 137.5 yards a game.

Carolina is statistically ranked in the lower bottom half of the NFL in all defensive categories besides pass defense and the Bengals are ranked in the top five of every defensive category, statistically except for pass defense. The Bengals have a defense which will allow for their rookie quarterback to make mistakes, and will keep their offense in a game. The Carolina Panthers defense does not allow for either of those things. There are two sides (three if you count special teams) of the ball in football and you need to have production on both sides to win games.

In the 2010 campaign the Cincinnati Bengals were ranked 20th in total offense putting up 20.1 points a game and 322 yards per game. The Carolina Panthers were ranked dead last in total offense last year putting up 196 yards per game and averaging 12.2 points per game. So the Bengals accounted for 126 more yards of offense and scored 8.1 more points per game offensively than the Panthers.

In passing offense the Bengals ranked 13th over all putting up 235.4 yards per game passing. The Panthers ranked 32 out of 32 and put up 143.1 yards per game passing. The Bengals offense accounted for 26 passing touchdowns, while the Panthers managed a mere nine passing touchdowns. That’s 156 points to 63 points, if you don’t want to do the math.

The only offensive category where the Panthers were better than the Bengals was rushing offense. The Bengals ranked 27th totaling 95.1 yards per game to the Panthers 13th ranked rushing offense that totaled 115.4 yards per game.

This year the Panthers currently rank fifth in total offense in the National Football League. That is a 27 place jump in one season. That statistic, right there, shows Cam Newton’s value to his team, and should propel him past Andy Dalton for Rookie of the Year. The Cincinnati Bengals rank 18th in total offense. They also rank 20th in rushing offense and 17th in passing offense.

So Cincinnati has actually fallen four spots in passing offense while having Dalton as a quarterback, meaning their passing attack is less potent than it was last year. You could argue that they are without Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens, which has led to less productivity from Dalton. He only has A.J. Green to throw to, you could argue. Well, Cam Newton only has one legitimate wide receiver in Steve Smith, so that argument is moot.

Andy Dalton has thrown 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season and he has an 81.8 passer rating so far for the year. Cam Newton has thrown 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions and has an 81.1 passer rating for the year. There’s really not much difference there. Andy Dalton has a slight edge because he has more touchdowns than interceptions, but their ratings are .7 points apart. Cam Newton has rushed for 10 touchdowns on the year and is closing in on pace to shatter Steve Grogan’s record of 14 in one season. Cam Newton already holds the rookie rushing touchdown record. That’s 70 points on offense that he has accounted for alone. The Carolina Panthers as a whole scored 17 touchdowns last season.

But Andy Dalton has seven wins. Cam Newton has three wins. Winning absolutely matters in the NFL. But with the above listed statistical analysis of each players’ contribution to their team Cam Newton comes out on top every time. He has taken a team that finished last in every statistical category and propelled them into the top ten of every offensive category. One player has turned an entire team around. While one has kept his team in around the same levels of offensive productivity. Less productive in passing offense. The Carolina Panthers have more wins this season than they did last year. One more, but still more. Andy Dalton has a defense, Cam Newton does not. Cam Newton has more interceptions on the year because he has to take more chances to keep his team competitive.

So yes, if you only grade the player on how many wins a team has, then Andy Dalton should absolutely win rookie of the year. If you base it on which player has done more for his team then it’s clearly Cam Newton. Cam is a winner, and he will be in the NFL. It’s just a matter of time.