Gästebuch » Cam Newton said he lives for pressure-packed mom

CHARLOTTE Stitched Fozzy Whittaker Jersey , N.C. (AP)ents. But so far the Panthers seventh-year quarterback has been mediocre in the postseason, something he hopes to improve upon when the Panthers visit the Saints on Sunday in the NFC playoffs. Newton is 3-3 all-time in the postseason, with his last playoff game culminating in an emotionally devastating 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. Outside of a riveting performance in a 49-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the 2015 NFC championship game, Newton’s statistics in the postseason have been average. He has completed just 59.7 percent of his passes for eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’s run for only two TDs, both of those coming in the playoff rout of the Cardinals. ”This is when the real football starts,” Newton said after Wednesday’s practice. ”This is where you’re made or you’re broke – and I look forward to these moments because it brings out the best in the individual because there is so much pressure. And we all know pressure does one of two things. We’re hoping to shine like diamonds on Sunday.” The Saints (11-5) have already defeated Carolina (11-5) twice this season, including a 31-21 victory on Dec. 3. But that doesn’t bother the NFL’s 2015 league MVP, who is expecting to bounce back from the worst statistical game of his game of his career in a 22-10 loss last Sunday at Atlanta. His quarterback rating of 31.5 in a 22-10 loss to the Falcons was the worst of his 109 career starts. He misfired on his first nine passes and had three second half interceptions. Yet he believes the problems in that game are easily fixable and the Panthers can rebound and rediscover the mojo that helped them win seven of eight games before the Falcons fiasco. ”It just wasn’t clicking,” Newton said. ”And it was internal. So self-inflicted things and that’s never good for you. … Protecting the football is important and I have to do a way better job of doing that.” This isn’t first time the Panthers have battled adversity, which isn’t lost on the former Heisman Trophy winner who won a national championship at Auburn. Even Panthers coach Ron Rivera referred to this as a ”tumultuous” season. The Panthers endured the off-field distractions from get go with the firing of general manager Dave Gettleman on the eve of training camp. That was followed by the midseason trade of No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, the negative feedback from Newton’s sexist comments to a female reporter and the alleged sexual and racial misconduct surrounding team owner Jerry Richardson Youth Daryl Williams Jersey , who now plans to sell the team. And that doesn’t even include the injuries which kept three-time Pro Bowl tight Greg Olsen and two-time All-Pro center Ryan Kalil out of most of the season. Newton said the Panthers have learned to ”weather the storm,” which has brought them closer together as a team. Carolina’s wide receiving corps remains a muddled mess and the Panthers still don’t appear to have a defined role for rookie running back Christian McCaffrey. But Olsen will play against the Saints for the first time this year giving Newton more options, and running back Jonathan Stewart (back stiffness) and guard Trai Turner (concussion) are expected back from injuries this week. But the reality is the Panthers will only go as far as Newton can take them in the postseason. Not only is he the Panthers’ leading passer, he’s also their leading rusher. ”We get Cam Newton playing fast, we’re a dangerous offense,” Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula said. ”We’ve got to keep Cam from trying to run all over the field, try to make him be more of a pocket passer,” said Saints defensive tackle Tyeler Davison. Saints defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins said the Saints have been able to throw Newton off the last two games by disguising coverages and giving him multiple looks. Newton has two TD passes and three interceptions in two games against the Saints which the Panthers have lost by a combined margin of 65-34. ”Not allowing him to get a bead on where the coverage is rolling down to, who’s coming, who’s not, different stunts up front Stitched Daryl Williams Jersey ,” Rankins said. ”If you can always keep Cam on his toes, it definitely gives you the best chance to win.” Rivera said he expects Newton to play well. ”He’s a guy that tends to bounce back after a tough outing,” Rivera said. ”We had a tough outing. He’s going to prepare, be ready. We, as a football team, will prepare and be ready.” — AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report. — Long after the NFL cut ties with Greg Hardy, the UFC (with help from corporate partner ESPN) is attempting to turn him into a cage fighting star. On Saturday night he got his first official win.The win was a flimsy excuse for a “fight,” as the UFC fed Hardy a newcomer named Dmitrii Smoliakov, a “fighter” who had no business in the Octagon. Hardy destroyed Smoliakov less than halfway into the first round, and the story of the fight was less that Hardy looked good than that Smoliakov looked bad — not to mention that the UFC looked bad for giving Hardy such an easy win.Smoliakov appeared to be stepping into the cage with Hardy just to cash a paycheck and get out of there as soon as possible. The commentator on the broadcast of the fight, former UFC champion Dominick Cruz Youth Michael Palardy Jersey , succinctly described the fight by saying that Smoliakov “doesn’t want to show up and fight this guy.”The UFC apparently thinks Hardy’s notoriety from his NFL days makes him a potentially lucrative draw. But if the UFC wants to get into the Greg Hardy business at all, the organization could at least give him a worthy opponent. Hardy has now had two official UFC fights, and both times the UFC gave him an easy opponent: Last time, Hardy fought a man who was coming off an ugly first-round knockout loss, and Hardy should have won easily but instead lost by disqualification when he illegally kneed his opponent in the head. This time, Hardy fought a man who quite clearly didn’t want to fight.If the UFC is going to keep inviting Hardy into the Octagon, it could at least match him up with someone who has previously won a UFC fight and might give him a challenge. Feeding overmatched opponents to Hardy is just gross.But the better question is why Hardy is in the Octagon at all. The NFL has taken plenty of warranted criticism for its handling of domestic violence, but even the NFL’s 32 teams all eventually decided they were done with Hardy. The UFC is not only still supporting him, but is bending over backward to help him win easy fights.