Cam Newton has won is the 2011 offensive rookie of the year for the Associated Press.Newton got 47 of the 50 votes with Andy Dalton of the Bengals getting another three.

For most of the season it seemed like Newton and Daltonwere neck and neck for offensive rookie of the year. But Cam Newton won the offensive rookie of the year because he set numerous NFL records.  In most other years Andy Dalton would have won the award but Cam Newton clearly outplayed him.

Cam Newton passed for over 4,000 yards and rushed for over 500. In addition he scored 14 rushing touchdowns. Newton did have some turnover issues but most rookie quarterbacks do. Cam Newton played with poise for most of the season and set the bar for all rookie quarterbacks coming into the NFL now.

Since many Carolina Panthers fans wanted Andrew Luck we were devastated when he went back to college for another year. But clearly we owe Luck a debt of gratitude for giving us Cam Newton.

Considering that Cam Newton didn’t have the benefit of much offseason work with the Carolina Panthers due to the NFL lockout, his rookie season was even more remarkable. If Cam applies that same work ethic for his entire career we have a special quarterback indeed.

The Carolina Panthers should try to resign Cam Newton to a longer contract right now. Yes Cam Newton has three years left on his rookie contract but the Panthers need to start now in talks with him.

Cam Newton didn’t get the huge money that Sam Bradford and other rookie quarterbacks did. Due to the new rookie salary cap Newton didn’t get the big payday. But since Cam Newton has such a successful rookie season, Panthers fans already are scared that Cam Newton will leave the Panthers when his contract runs out.

I think Cam Newton will end his career as a Carolina Panther and here are the reasons why.Charlotte is very media friendly to Cam Newton and he will have his bad days. Quarterbacks get a lot of grief from the media in some markets.

Cam Newton can get all the commercial deals he wants right there in Charlotte. He does not have to be in New Yorkor some other huge city to get endorsements. With all the banking in Charlotte there will be numerous business deals in the area for Cam Newton.

The fact that Cam Newton leaving Charlotte is a major topic after just one season shows how much the Panthers fans love him. I just listened to an interview of Cam Newton on WFNZ and he was asked if he would stay in town. Of course he said he would stay but then again he wouldn’t say otherwise either.

The Carolina Panthers need to show Cam Newton that they are dedicated to winning. If Cam Newton wins with the Panthers then he will stay.Newton wants to go down as the best quarterback ever and you need to win to do that.

So the Carolina Panthers need to show Cam they want to win and they need to try to resign him now. Even if Cam Newton decides to leave Carolina, he will still be franchised two times. So it’s in Cam Newton’s best interest to sign a long term deal with the Panthers anyway.

I do not expect the Panthers to negotiate with Cam Newton about and extension yet. However if Cam Newton follows up his rookie season with another great year, then the Panthers will have to start negotiating with him.

Cam Newton by far is already the most popular Carolina Panther ever and the fans are very concerned about him leaving Charlotte. I don’t recall any rookie ever striking fear into his fans that he would leave when his contract runs out. Let’s just hope that Cam Newton finishes his career as a Carolina Panther.

Cam Newton had one of the best rookie seasons of any quarterback in NFL history. Cam Newton set a rookie passing yard season record with 4,051 yards also passing for 20 touchdowns and only 17 interceptions. I say only because typically rookie quarterbacks throw more interceptions than touchdown passes. Cam Newton’s 60.0 pass completion percentage was very acceptable for a rookie quarterback.

Cam Newton also set records running the football in his rookie season. Newton rushed 126 times for 706 yards and record 14 touchdowns. Averaging 5.6 yards per carry Cam Newton established himself as an elite scrambling NFK quarterback.

What impressed me the most about Cam Newton’s rookie season was both his poise and work ethic. Clearly Cam Newton didn’t try to get by solely on his athletic talent and was working hard with the coaches to get better. I only remember Newton getting visibly frustrated a couple of times as a rookie and that is impressive.

Considering that Cam Newton was mostly thought to be a project, he had a spectacular rookie season. Remember that due to the NFL lockout Newton missed a lot of training camp and off season passing schools and such.

With a full offseason of workouts and training camp under his belt look for Cam Newton to be even better during the 2012 NFL season. I don’t see Cam Newton having a sophomore slump next season.Newton’s work ethic and desire for greatness won’t allow him to slump.

If the Carolina Panthers can solidify their defense then Cam Newton and the offense will have the team in playoff contention in 2012. I expect the Panthers to be Super Bowl contenders in 2013 with Cam Newton being a great leader and NFL quarterback.

Thanks to Cam Newton the future is bright indeed for the Carolina Panthers. For the first time we have a true franchise quarterback and one that eyes all over the country will be on.Newtonand the Carolina Panthers offense will earn the team some primetime games next year so fans in other markets can see him play.

Thanks for checking out my review of the Panthers 34-29 loss to the Chicago Bears. Cam Newton played well in the loss to Chicago but once again the defense could not overcome injuries and inexperience.

Matt Forte the Bears running back had a career day with 205 yards rushing in the win over the Panthers. Quarterback Jay Cutler was held in check but Forte had a field day against the Carolina defense. Brian Urlacher and Brandon Merriweather had eight and six tackles respectively for the Bears. As I feared Devin Hester had a big punt return, a 69 yarder for a touchdown.

Cam Newton had one interception and one fumble (he recovered) while completing 27 of 46 for 374 yards and a touchdown pass to Greg Olsen. Cam Newton continues to improve and the Panthers running game looked much better against the Bears.

DeAngelo Williams quieted critics with 10 carries for 82 yards including a 26 yarder. Jonathan Stewart had eight carries for 52 yards and Newton added 35 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns.

Steve Smith had another great game with eight catches for 181 yards while Olsen had five for 50 yards and the touchdown. Brandon LaFell has four catches for 42 yards for the Panthers against the Bears.

Dan Connor and Omar Gaither led the Panthers with six and five tackles respectively while Charles “Big Money” Johnson had one tackle and one sack. The defense looked good against the pass but the inexperienced defensive tackles hurt their run defense.

The Panthers offense once again struggled with penalties that hurt them in their opponent’s territory. What impressed me even in a Carolina loss to Chicago was that the team has been close in every game in 2011.

This team wants to win but I feel they need to learn how to do that in all these close games. Cam Newton is driven to win games and in turn that helps fire up his teammates. When the Panthers get a little more experience in their new systems they will start to win these games.

This is a preview of the Bears and Panthers game that will be played on Sunday October 2^nd in Chicago. The 1-2 Panthers will travel to the Windy City to take on the 1-2 Chicago Bears.

Here is a team stat comparison for the Panthers vs. the Bears game according to NFL.com. The Carolina Panthers are seventh in the league in yards gained, fourth in passing and 24^th in rushing yards. The Panthers defense ranks 17^th in total yards given up, 25^th in rushing defense and 14^th in passing yards given up.

The Chicago Bears rank 23^rd in total yards gained, 17^th in passing yards and 31^st in rushing yards gained. The Bears defense ranks 25^th in total yards given up, 18^th in rushing defense and 26^th in passing yards defense.

The Panthers and Bears will be playing some old friends as Chris “Hitman” Harris and Julius Peppers of the Bears used to be Carolina Panthers. Greg Olsen the Panthers tight end was acquired from the Bears in a trade shortly before the season started.

For the Panthers to beat the Bears Cam Newton must rediscover the accuracy he showed against Green Bay and Arizona. Cam didn’t turn the ball over against Jacksonville but he was largely wild on his passes until the final drive.

The Bears defense has some age on it and Cam and company can pass on them if they can keep Julius Peppers out of their backfield. Panthers fans must hope the old Julius that takes games off shows up. But players tend to have good games against their former teams.

The Panthers MUST contain Devin Hester on returns and in the passing game. If the Bears get a big play from Hester it will drive the home crowd crazy and hurt the Panthers chance of winning.

DeAngelo Williams caught a lot of grief this week from Panthers fans and he needs to have a good game. Jonathan Stewart is having a good season and I hope to see him get the ball more this week against the Bears.

The Panthers need to get healthy and stay healthy to beat the Bears on Sunday. Charles Godfrey is expected back but Jeff Otah and Chris Gamble have missed practice time this week with injuries.

Look for James Anderson to have a big game and he will be needed to help contain Matt Forte. The Bears under Mike Martz like to throw the ball all over the yard but no NFL team will ignore the run completely.

I think the Panthers match up well with the Bears and now know they can win games. This team plays to the level of their competition and this game should go down to the wire.

The Carolina Panthers head into week two of the preseason a little banged up as they prepare to play the Miami Dolphins. According to Steve Reed of Carolinagrowl.com (via Twitter) Stewart, Gamble, Goodson and Gary Barnidge are questionable. Beason, Schwartz, Otah, Hardy and Fiammetta are out for the Panthers/Dolphins preseason game.

The big news heading into week two of the 2011 Panthers preseason is Cam Newton’s first start. Newton played fairly well last week and will start and play mostly with the starting unit. Jimmy Clausen is expected to see a lot of playing time with the 2^nd string with Anderson getting some spot duty.

The big things the Panthers want out of the preseason game with the Dolphins is for everyone to stay healthy and for Cam Newton to keep progressing. There is little doubt now that Newton will be the regular season starting quarterback from day one unless he has a major meltdown in the preseason.

Charles “Big Money” Johnson will be playing this week against the Dolphins and may have a good game. As Jason Roberts points out at his excellent “Bottlenose Blogging” site, the Dolphins have a less than stellar offensive line.

Panthers fans will see a familiar face in Matt Moore who is probably going to be the second string quarterback this season for the Dolphins.  I look for Moore to play well against the banged up Panthers defense.

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Steve Smith will be playing against the Dolphins after sitting out last week due to an injured hand. Contrary to some reports it was a pass from Jimmy Clausen (not Newton) that injured Smith. Between Smith and tight end Greg Olsen I think the Panthers offense will have some pop this week.

Due to the short offseason and new coaches and systems, I expect the Panthers starters to play more than they would in most preseason games. The Panthers are still installing their offense and defense. Fan reaction to both systems has been positive everywhere I have seen or heard it mentioned.

Two players I am interested in seeing against the Dolphins are wide receiver Armanti Edwards and running back Tyrell Sutton. Edwards has had a great training camp and may be ready to assume more of a wide receiver role. Sutton is a good running back who just needs opportunities and he will get some playing time inMiami.

The Panthers preseason game in Miami will be a success if there are no injuries and the team continues to jell. I don’t pay much attention to wins and losses in preseason; I just want to see solid play with few turnovers and penalties. Let the Cam Newton era of starting begin!