Carolina Panthers make starting quarterback announcement

As the excitement around Cam Newton’s return has waned and Sam Darnold’s injury has healed up, there have been a lot of people wondering who the starting quarterback will be for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Matt Rhule made the announcement on Wednesday that Newton will start but Darnold will play during the game.

Cam Newton will start Sunday. Have a major role. Sam Darnold will play at some point, per Matt Rhule.

— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) December 22, 2021

“Cam Newton will start on Sunday,” ESPN’s David Newton reported. Adding Newton will “have a major role” and “[Sam] Darnold will play at some point,” according to Rhule.

Rhule appears to be going all-in on a two-quarterback system, which has not worked very well so far this season. The Panthers have lost four-straight, all of which were started by Newton. The offense has struggled to get going in any meaningful way while incorporating both Newton and Philip Walker.

Darnold was the starter at the beginning of the season and even put up some exciting numbers before things came crashing down to earth. By the time he was injured there were already discussions about benching him.

As it stands, Darnold has 1,986 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while Newton has 623 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. Both quarterbacks have five rushing touchdowns as well.

At 5-9, the Panthers are basically playing for pride at this point. With two games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one against the New Orleans Saints, they’re up against it in terms of finding easy wins, especially since Tom Brady and the Bucs are in the hunt for the top spot in the NFC. But if the team is able to at least find some kind of positives they can carry into the offseason, we’ll have a good sense of whether or not either of these quarterbacks have a future in Charlotte.

In the meantime, NFL circles aren’t too excited about their options.

Yikes https://t.co/zOLzox1hZi

— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) December 22, 2021

The only thing worse than having a QB battle between Cam Newton and Sam Darnold is playing them both simultaneously https://t.co/JzhTrASr6c

— “ (@TreyIance) December 22, 2021

So Darnold will get some snaps at QB and DJ Moore is a game time decision. I would look elsewhere if you were thinking of using Cam this week (last week’s QB 5). https://t.co/YjliUPBlhq

— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) December 22, 2021

Is Matt Rhule afraid that Sam Darnold will enter the transfer portal with another year left on his contract? https://t.co/TaqY4kBI8w

— Jake Gould (@jakegould10) December 22, 2021

The odds aren’t in Carolina’s favor to win many games the rest of this season. This decision could make or break Rhule’s longterm viability in Charlotte and the NFL. So it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out on Sunday against the Buccaneers. If nothing else, expect whoever is playing QB for Carolina to rush for a touchdown, that seems to be the only constant.

[David Newton]