Andre Johnson will make fans question the assertion that a wide receiver can never be the most valuable member of a team. The Browns find increasingly more creative ways to lose, even when they play the Bengals. Braylon Edwards will behave himself and play like a Pro Bowl receiver for about half the season, then implode both on the field and off sometime around Week 10.
Two quarterbacks entered the first week of the NFL season with less-than-lofty expectations. Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton and Dallas Cowboys signal-caller Tony Romo faced their shares of skepticism. Only one fulfilled the widespread expectation that he would crash and burn.
As you probably are aware, it was Romo.
Despite a sea of evidence that Romo should be a great NFL quarterback — lots of weapons at the skill positions, good arm, good understanding of the playbook, ability to make the right reads (at least in practice and in the first three quarters of games) — he continues to scuffle in clutch situations. As the Cowboys roared into the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game with a 17-10 lead over the Jets, there was a part of almost every viewer that said, “Let’s see how Eastern Illinois’ finest ruins this one.”
Predictability like that makes surprises that much more enjoyable. Before Newton was even finished leading Auburn to a BCS national championship last season, scouts and draft prognosticators were declaring the runaway Heisman Trophy winner would not make a good NFL quarterback.
Supposedly, he was too raw. His reads were poor. His mechanics were a mess. He dominated at the college level due to his ridiculous athleticism, they reasoned. He would get eaten alive in the pros.
There’s no telling how good Newton will be after just one game. His opponent, the Arizona Cardinals, gave up the fourth-most yards and the third-most points on defense in the NFL last season. Newton’s eye-popping 422 passing yards, the most by any quarterback starting the first game of his first season, did not come against the 1999 Ravens.
It was clear from his play, however, that Newton will not be clueless and overmatched against NFL defenses. He might not be a regular MVP candidate, but he will win some ballgames. If his knack for dramatic finishes in college was any indication, he might make more plays with the game on the line than Romo.
When the Panthers pop up on NFL RedZone next Sunday, fans will perk up, because Newton is a movie they haven’t seen before. He may someday be great. He may turn out to be terrible. There’s an element of the unexpected surrounding the rookie QB, though, and in the NFL, that’s a welcome addition.
