page_title: Cam Newton
section_title: 2015 season: MVP season and Super Bowl 50 appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Cam Newton / Professional career / Carolina Panthers / 2015 season: MVP season and Super Bowl 50 appearance
caption_attribution_description: English: New Orleans Saints vs Carolina Panthers, December 6, 2015, Tammy Anthony Baker, Photographer
context_page_description: Cameron Jerrell Newton is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After starting his college football career as a backup to Tim Tebow at Florida, Newton transferred to Blinn College. He then joined Auburn, where he won the Bowl Champion Series National Championship and Heisman Trophy in 2010. Newton was then drafted as the first overall pick by the Carolina Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft.
  In his rookie year, Newton broke all-time NFL rookie records for passing and rushing yards by a quarterback and the all-time rushing touchdowns by a quarterback record. He became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 400 yards in his first game, shattering Peyton Manning's record for a rookie debut by 120 yards and Otto Graham's 61-year-old record for an NFL debut. Newton went on to become the first rookie quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
  Newton capped off the 2015 season by capturing the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and leading the Panthers to a 15–1 record and a trip to Super Bowl 50. Newton was then the second African-American quarterback to win the NFL MVP award, after Steve McNair.
context_section_description: On June 2, 2015, the Panthers and Newton agreed to a five-year, $103.8 million contract extension. Through the 2015 preseason, Newton graded as PFF's best quarterback. During the season-opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Newton finished with 175 yards passing, one touchdown, and one interception, while rushing for 35 yards. This was the first NFL opening-day victory for Newton (the Panthers won their opener in 2014 with an injured Newton on the sidelines). During the Panthers' Week 2 victory over the Houston Texans, Newton finished with 195 yards passing, two passing touchdowns, and one interception, while rushing for 76 yards and one touchdown. In week three against the New Orleans Saints, Newton passed for 315 yards and two passing touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown. It marked the 26th game in Newton's career in which he had a passing and a rushing touchdown, ranking second all-time in NFL history behind only Steve Young (31). Further, it marked the 14th time in his career where Newton notched two-plus touchdown passes and at least one rushing touchdown, third-most in the NFL since 1960, behind only Steve Young (17) and Fran Tarkenton (16). Through the first three games of the season, Newton accounted for 76% of the total offensive yards and 88% of the total touchdowns the Panthers generated. Newton helped lead the Panthers to a 3–0 start, the first time they had done so since the 2003 NFL Season. Several experts noted Newton's continued growth as a quarterback; Gil Brandt noted Newton's improving internal clock in the pocket, citing his career low sack percentage of 4.8% in the early season; senior NFL columnist for CBSSports.com, Pete Prisco, noting Cam's improved pocket patience, mechanics, and ability to read defenses; Cian Fahey noted Newton's development into a refined pocket passer with the athleticism to diversify any offense with a multidimensional run game. In the following week, during a 37–23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Newton went 11 of 22 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns while leading the team in rushing with 51 yards to give the Panthers a 4–0 record for the first time since 2003. As a rusher, through the first four weeks, Newton ranked 3rd in the NFL in rushes for first downs.
  Following a Week 4 bye, Newton threw for 269 yards, two interceptions, and a touchdown and rushed for 30 yards and a touchdown while leading the Panthers to victory against the Seattle Seahawks. It marked just the 3rd home Seahawks loss in the Russell Wilson era. It also marked the first franchise win in Seattle and Newton's ninth career fourth-quarter comeback win. During the game, Newton also recorded the 36th career rushing touchdown of his career; over that span, only Marshawn Lynch and Adrian Peterson were the only players to record more rushing touchdowns since 2011. Through the first five weeks of the season, Newton recorded a career-high 67.6% of passes under pressure. The following week against the Philadelphia Eagles, Newton led the Panthers to a victory, earning the Panthers their first 6–0 record in franchise history; during the game, he threw three interceptions and recorded his 28th game with a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. In Week 8, against the Indianapolis Colts, Newton threw for 248 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, as the Panthers moved to 7–0 with a 29–26 overtime victory; with the win, Newton became the first quarterback in NFL history to earn a comeback victory with his team trailing in overtime.
  The following week, Newton led the Panthers to their first 8–0 start in franchise history with a 37–29 victory over the Green Bay Packers; Newton went 15–30 for 297 yards passing, three touchdowns, and one interception to go along with 9 rush, 57 yards, and one touchdown. Further, for the first time in his career, Newton threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a single half. For his game against the Packers, Newton was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. The following week, during the Panthers 27–10 victory over the Tennessee Titans, Newton wen
caption: Newton playing against the New Orleans Saints in 2015.
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