Keeping Cam in the pocket - cue Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones

Photo Courtesy of Metro US

I'm sure the Patriots have been extensively watching film of Cam Newton scrambling and killing defenses with his legs and scheming at practice about how to keep him in the pocket and forcing him to beat them with his arm instead of his legs. If they do that, then they'll be successful because they'll have Aqib Talib on Steve Smith, which works in the Patriots favor because he'll shut down Smith for the most part. If it works out in the Patriots favor, then Carolina will have limited options offensively and it will be difficult to slow down a Patriots offense that is finally finding a rhythm enough to give them a shot at winning this game.

Let's back up for a second: How are the Patriots going to keep Cam in the pocket? Well, Rob Ninkovich and Chandler Jones are good places to start for Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. They are probably designing any number of plays to keep Newton in the pocket that revolve around these 2 guys bringing pressure. These guys are probably our 2 best pass rushers, and if the Pats expect to stop Cam Newton from running all over us, it starts with them. Talib can take care of Steve Smith, but these guys are the key to stopping Carolina's run game, and Newton is definitely part of that. Of course, the Panthers have other weapons in the run game, i.e Mike Tolbert. But minimizing Newton as a dual threat quarter back will be the golden ticket for the Pats defense, so to speak. And the way to do that is to keep him in the pocket and get pressure on him.

Twitter - @ConorJF1016