CHARLOTTE, NC — It’s flashy, it’s dynamic, and it’s explosive. But so far it hasn’t won a Super Bowl. Not one.
We’re talking about the spread offense and those marvelous young quarterbacks whose legs are as dangerous as their arms.
Two of the best will face each other Sunday when Colin Kaepernick leads his 49ers against Cam Newton and the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. New age football meets smash mouth with a berth in the NFC Championship on the line.
Let’s be clear. The spread offense isn’t a fad. It won’t be going the way of the Run ’n Shoot or the Wildcat or any of those other offenses that were good for a season or two.
As more skilled athletes like Newton, Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III emerge in college, more pro teams will take advantage of quarterbacks with the kind of size, speed and arm strength that keep defenders awake at night.
“We do know they are a very dynamic offense,” Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said of the 49ers. “They have a great quarterback in Colin, and he’s playing extremely well right now. Their running game is one of the best running games in the league, and they got one of their star receivers [Michael Crabtree] back. We know it’s going to be a challenge, but we’re up for it.”
Will this be the year a spread offense quarterback hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy? Kaepernick came close last season, but the 49ers ultimately lost to Joe Flacco and the Ravens in New Orleans.
Flacco is a pocket quarterback like all the previous Super Bowl winners. From Bart Starr to Joe Namath to Kurt Warner to Tom Brady to Eli Manning, every quarterback to win a Super Bowl has been a pocket quarterback. Jeff Hostetler and John Elway could run a little, but nothing like Kaepernick and Newton.
Kaepernick rushed for 524 yards and four touchdowns this season compared to Newton, who ran for 585 yards and six TDs. Kaepernick also threw for 3,197 yards and 21 TDs, while Newton passed for 3,379 yards and 24 TDs.
“When you have a quarterback of Cam Newton’s ability in this type of game, I think he’d be apt to run maybe a little bit more than he would normally,” San Francisco defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told reporters earlier this week. “They may even call more of the quarterback runs for him, the quarterback powers and lead draws. We’re anticipating more of those from them.”
Neither team was particularly explosive in their first meeting earlier this year. The Panthers defeated San Francisco 10-9 on Nov. 10. Kaepernick threw for just 91 yards and ran for just 16 yards in that game, while Newton passed for 169 yards and ran for 15. There is a mutual respect.
“He’s a great player,” Kaepernick said of Newton. “He does a lot of things well. We do have some similarities.”
Either Newton, the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft, or Kaepernick, who was taken 36th overall in the same draft, will advance to the NFC Championship game next week, where they could face Wilson if the Seahawks got past the Saints on Saturday. That would ensure at least one of the spread offense quarterbacks will in the Super Bowl with a chance to prove these new era quarterbacks can win a championship.
The old blueprint discouraged quarterbacks from running. Drop back, read the defense, throw the ball. That was the old formula. It’s why Kaepernick and Newton probably would have been moved to wide receiver had they entered the league a decade ago. Now they’re the kind of quarterback that every team covets. But now they must prove they can win a Super Bowl.