Behind Enemy Lines: Carolina has severe case of Newton Fever; Steve Smith has it worst

As the Vikings prepare for Sunday's game with the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium, we asked Tom Sorensen, columnist for the Charlotte Observer, to give us his up-close-and-personal scouting report on Carolina. Here are four things you need to know …

1) If you thought folks in the Twin Cities were rapidly falling in love with Christian Ponder, then you should see how gaga Charlotte's gone for its rookie quarterback, Cam Newton.
After Newton's pro day last spring, Sorensen was direct. He wrote with convinced authority that the Panthers absolutely, positively had to draft Newton with the No. 1 pick.

"I got killed by readers after that one," Sorensen said. "Now? Of course, they've always loved me."

Newton has thrown for 2,103 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing for 266 yards and seven scores. Sorensen points first to Newton's unique combination of poise and charisma.

"You could see it surfacing in training camp," said Sorensen. "That composure. He would take off running and be smiling the whole time. He'd be rushed, there were things he didn't understand and it never bothered him. He was just unflappable.

"And it's the antithesis of what we saw last year with Jimmy Clausen. Clausen seemed like a private school guy who for the first time was playing on the playground. He was just perpetually overwhelmed. Cam is Mr. Cool."

On top of that, Sorensen says Newton's accuracy in the early season has been the biggest surprise. The rookie has completed 60.3 percent of his passes.

"This city has never had a franchise quarterback," Sorensen said. "Jake Delhomme is the best there's been here. So Charlotte is mesmerized. This is the happiest 2-5 team in the whole world."

2) After nine seasons as Carolina's head coach, John Fox is now in Denver. Ron Rivera is in his first year as Panthers head coach. That's as refreshing as anything.
Last year's 2-14 crash in Carolina wad all sorts of aggravating. It's not just that the Panthers had the NFL's worst offense, averaging 12.3 points per game. It's that Fox had obvious lame-duck status from the start of training camp.

This fall Rivera has come in and provided an injection of optimism. After 14 seasons as an assistant coach, most notably as defensive coordinator of the Bears (2004-06) and Chargers (2008-10), Rivera is grateful for his new opportunity.

Said Sorensen: "He waited so long to be a head coach and interviewed for so many jobs, a lot of which he maybe never was a serious candidate for. So when he got this one, he showed such appreciation."

Rivera has been forward. He admits the Panthers don't have the makeup to win consistently yet. But he also vows growth is coming rapidly.

3) Veteran receiver Steve Smith seems to be headed back to the Pro Bowl.
Raise your hand if at any point in 2010 you thought Smith's glory days were over. That was a season during which he had 46 catches for 554 yards and two touchdowns. On top of that, he went public with his sharp criticism of Clausen and began packing his own bags.

"He went to the owner, Jerry Richardson, and asked straight up to be traded," Sorensen said.

Smith eyed San Diego and Baltimore as destinations and the Panthers shopped him there as well as to two other teams. Ultimately, the price wasn't right for Carolina. They kept Smith, drafted Newton and now magic is happening.

In the first quarter of the season opener, Smith caught a 77-yard touchdown pass from Newton. The rookie threw for 422 yards that day. Smith had 178 receiving yards and two scores.

"And they haven't stopped since," Sorensen said.

Smith leads the NFL with 818 receiving yards right now.

4) The Panthers are loaded with defensive deficiencies.
They're just plain bad against the run, ranking 29th overall and allowing 133.4 rushing yards per game. In the season opener, Pro Bowl linebacker Jon Beason was lost for the season with a torn Achilles' tendon. The next week, fellow linebacker Thomas Davis suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his right knee.

"More than being good linebackers, those guys were great leaders," Sorensen said. "When they went out, that created a tremendous hole – in the locker room, in the huddle and especially on the field."

Last week, the Panthers started James Anderson and Jason Williams at linebacker. Defensive tackles Terrell McClain and Sione Fua, meanwhile, haven't exactly been star run stoppers either.