Tre Boston on Cam Newton: ‘We miss him in this locker room’

Things might have turned out very different if they had been playing with a full deck all year, though.

The Panthers lost another game on Sunday, their sixth straight in what has become another disheartening season. Carolina’s 30-24 failure against the Seahawks – combined with the Falcons’ stunning upset of the 49ers – has dropped the team to last place in the NFC South.

Things might have turned out very different if they had been playing with a full deck all year, though. The most devastating development of the year came in the preseason when Cam Newton suffered a foot injury that wound up putting him on IR after just two games played. Looking ahead, the franchise faces a number of difficult questions about Newton’s future. Some analysts have predicted he will be suiting up for another team next year despite him having one year left on his contract.

Ask any of Newton’s teammates and they’ll tell you they want him around. Here’s what safety Tre Boston said about Cam after yesterday’s game, per the Athletic.

“I continue to wish him health (after) his surgery. I’m happy he got it. It was needed. Should have had it a little earlier. But he’s got it and I’m excited to see him come back. We miss him in this locker room.”

I don’t even play a doctor on TV so I can’t speak to whether or not Newton should have undergone surgery earlier. It is unfortunate the team won’t have him at 100% by the time the offseason program starts if they do decide to bring him back for another round.

It certainly doesn’t make much sense to go with anybody else currently on the roster. Kyle Allen’s performance on Sunday was another reminder of his painful limitations as a quarterback. Allen is a solid backup but looks unlikely to become a starting-caliber QB anytime soon.

We don’t know what the Panthers have in third-round pick Will Grier because he hasn’t been on the field since August. Interim head coach Perry Fewell told the media yesterday the thought of putting Grier in never occurred to him.

That leaves the team only one proven option at the most critical position.

Whether or not Newton is back in 2020 depends on a lot of factors, but it’s important to remember this roster was built to win with him as its centerpiece. Unless the front office plans on a total overhaul this offseason, Newton will still represent their best chance to win games.

As for Boston, he signed a one-year deal back in July, so he’s set to become a free agent. Boston’s season hasn’t been perfect but he’s performed relatively well. He earned a significant bonus on Sunday by securing his third interception of the season. Carolina’s secondary needs all the depth it can get and Boston’s only 27 years old, so re-signing him is a no-brainer. The Panthers should make him an offer similar to the one they gave Eric Reid last year.

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Panthers Highlights: Tre Boston picks off trick pass by Josh Gordon

Sometimes the best trick plays are the ones you don’t run.

Sometimes the best trick plays are the ones you don’t run. Here’s one the Seahawks probably wish they could have back. Watch Panthers safety Tre Boston pick off a bad decision by wide receiver Josh Gordon, who was looking for a well-covered D.K. Metcalf.

That’s Boston’s third interception of the season, which earns him a $150,000 bonus.

While the defense has stiffened up after an atrocious first-quarter performance, Carolina’s offense is still stuck in the mud and Kyle Allen has thrown three interceptions of his own.

Seattle leads 23-10 late in the third quarter.

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NFL lays big fine on Panthers S Tre Boston for hit on Ted Ginn Jr.

This wasn’t hard to see coming. Boston himself predicted that he’d get fined by the NFL a few days ago.

Cameron Jordan isn’t the only guy who got fined today. According to Jourdan Rodrigue at the Athletic, Panthers safety Tre Boston has been hit with a substantial $56,126 fine for his penalty against Saints wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. in last week’s loss.

This wasn’t hard to see coming. Boston himself predicted that he’d get fined by the NFL a few days ago.

The fine itself is no great surprise, but the amount seems a bit excessive considering Jordan’s fine for punching Kyle Allen in the head was only $38,602.

How much the league fines players has always been capricious. Name power and position seem to be considerable factors. If Jordan’s hit on Kyle Allen had actually been on a star like Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, you can bet his fine would have been heftier. Whereas if it had been on Cam Newton, a flag might not have been thrown at all.

Safeties like Boston seem to get the shaft more than every other position given the nature of what they have to do to compete. This was Boston’s second fine of the 2019 season. He picked up another one for a hit on 49ers tight end George Kittle earlier this year.

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Panthers S Tre Boston expects to be fined for hit on Ted Ginn Jr.

Panthers S Tre Boston expects to be fined for hit on Ted Ginn Jr.

Playing safety in the NFL properly almost requires you to make borderline hits every week that may or may not draw a fine from the league.

Tre Boston knows that’s the nature of the job. He told Joe Person at the Athletic that he expects to be fined for his hit on Ted Ginn Jr. in Sunday’s loss to the Saints.

Boston has already been fined once this season for a tackle on 49ers tight end George Kittle. The NFL hit him up for $28,075 for that one.

Ginn used to play for Carolina. He’s been relatively quiet this season, posting 348 yards and two touchdowns on 24 catches. Ginn might be worth considering as a deep fantasy football sleeper for his Thanksgiving game against the Falcons, though.

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Valiant comeback effort from Kyle Allen and the Panthers gets wasted

Allen was confident and effective once again in an extraordinarily difficult venue to win in.

In sacrificing better judgment for the sake of a juicy storyline, much of the football world has done its darnedest over the past 10 weeks to prop up Kyle Allen as the future of the Carolina Panthers. Well, he’s not. Allen, for the most part, will keep you in games – not put you over the top as do many of the league’s premier players at the position.

He’s someone you can feel relatively comfortable with in a pinch, given his aptitude to allow his offense’s best play-makers to make plays and not utterly self-implode. But his handful of flaws—most notably his feel for the pocket, his frantic processing, lack of downfield arm strength and a recent absence of ball security—won’t get you too far.

Today, however, was the day we finally saw that propped up Kyle Allen—that gritty, poised, moxie-filled Kyle Allen those overly excited folks have been so eager to die on a hill for.

Coming off his worst career outing, an afternoon where he threw four interceptions at home against a largely lost Atlanta Falcons defense, Allen shined under difficult circumstances in New Orleans. Allen was confident and effective once again in an extraordinarily difficult venue to win in.

Unfortunately for the Panthers and their playoff hopes, it just wasn’t enough.

Down 14-0 midway through the first quarter, Carolina got a boost from their quarterback. Allen shook off those downfield cobwebs and connected with wide receiver DJ Moore on a beauty of a 51-yard touchdown pass to keep the Panthers afloat in what was otherwise quickly turning into a thorough beat-down.

He’d do the same late in the third, leading the offense to a seven-play, 71-yard scoring trek to cut off the New Orleans Saints, who nearly broke away on a touchdown the possession prior, and cut into their 31-18 lead. Running back Christian McCaffrey (133 total yards, two touchdowns) put the 4-yard cherry on top of the drive to chop the deficit to seven.

After tying the game on a two-yard strike to Moore (six receptions, 126 yards), who also had his most impressive performance of 2019, Allen again pushed the Panthers into range, this time leaving a potential go-ahead, 28-yard field goal try for kicker Joey Slye with 2:00 left.

But, like he did on the pair of extra point tries on the two aforementioned scoring drives, Slye missed. And Wil Lutz, who was set up for a 33-yard game-winner by the Saints offense, did not.

Carolina’s crushing 34-31 loss in New Orleans can partly (and obviously) be attributed to Slye’s misses. The other portion of the blame can be placed on the team’s defense, who not only folded on the last stand of the game, but also failed to come up with big plays earlier in the contest.

Save for an interception by Tre Boston, the unit’s first takeaway since Week 9, and a fourth-down stop by safety Eric Reid (15 tackles), the Panthers struggled to take advantage of a Saints offense that wasn’t up to its usual standards. One sack through the game’s first 58 minutes and forcing just nine incompletions for quarterback Drew Brees won’t get much done in that particular dome.

While the Panthers’ postseason outlook was already fading even before the loss, this one stings a tad more for Allen (23-of-36, 256 yards, three touchdowns) and that valiant comeback. It may sting even harder for head coach Ron Rivera, who has his team at 5-6 and could be coaching out the rest of the season for his job in 2020 and beyond.

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Panthers Highlights: Tre Boston picks off Drew Brees at midfield

Watch safety Tre Boston pick off a pass by Drew Brees at midfield. 

It’s hard to overstate just how important it is for the Panthers to create takeaways. Their win/loss record when they win the turnover battle is a testament to that. That’s why it’s so good to see this. Watch safety Tre Boston pick off a pass by Drew Brees at midfield.

Curtis Samuel drew a huge penalty in the end zone soon after, setting up a short touchdown pass from Kyle Allen to D.J. Moore.

Joey Slye made the extra point attempt this time. The score is now tied 31-31.

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