QB controversy: Should Kyle Allen or Cam Newton start for the Panthers?

The Carolina Panthers will head into their bye week at 4-2, having reeled off four straight wins with undrafted free agent Kyle Allen at the helm.

But according to an ESPN report, Cam Newton is on the mend and “is expected to be ready to practice after the team’s bye.” It’s up in the air whether the franchise will stick with the hot rookie or the seasoned vet who might be back to his old self now that he’s healthy.

So who should Ron Rivera call upon in Week 8 to face the 49ers, assuming Newton is healthy? Two of us debated the answer below:

Stick with Allen

Aside from that four-touchdown performance against the Arizona Cardinals — and let’s face it, I could complete a few passes against that secondary — Allen has been serviceable. He hasn’t topped 232 yards since that first start and those six fumbles (!) are alarming.

But I am all for momentum in this situation. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all that.

When we last saw Newton, he was a shell of his former self. The Panthers didn’t call for a Cam QB sneak on a crucial fourth-and-1 against the Bucs, and now we know why — Newton wasn’t healthy. But this is a quarterback who has taken a pounding over the years. He’s no longer the rushing threat he was in his prime. Even if his foot is completely healed, will he be the same dynamic game-changer who defenses have to watch closely? I’m doubtful.

There’s another factor here too, and his name is Christian McCaffrey. The MVP candidate has become the offensive focal point, and whoever the QB is has one job: get McCaffrey the ball, and sit back. Yes, there are passes that need to be threaded to D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel and Greg Olsen. But Allen’s hanging in there, although I’ll admit he’s gotten bailed out a few times by those talents:

My point? In a vacuum, you take Newton. With the Panthers riding momentum, I’ll take the hot hand. — Charles Curtis

Go back to Cam Newton

I don’t know how this is even a debate. Actually, that’s not true. Nobody is sitting down to watch Kyle Allen play football, so they look at his box score numbers, see that TD-INT ratio, passer rating and his 5-0 record as a starter, and that’s enough to convince them that this undrafted free agent is worthy of supplanting the 2015 NFL MVP and a guy who was in the MVP discussion at this point last season.

If you actually watch Allen play, you’ll understand why Panthers fans are clamoring for Newton’s return. Allen is a solid backup and little more. He has no pocket presence. He’ll often drift into pressure or bail from clean pockets prematurely. Allen is not overly accurate, either, which is the one area where you’d say he has an advantage over Cam. Allen doesn’t see the field well and he’s too eager to throw to his checkdown rather than buying time for his receivers to get open downfield.

I hate to do this, but we don’t the space here for me to launch into a full-on film analysis, so: Pro Football Focus has Allen graded at 63.1. That ranks 26th in the league behind Eli Manning, Marcus Mariota and Ryan Fitzpatrick. All of those quarterbacks have been benched and none of them had a former MVP ready to take the job.

Allen’s numbers are misleading. The offense has devolved into one-read stuff meant to get the ball out his hand as quickly as possible. He is, for the most part, making replacement-level throws and letting his offensive weapons do the rest of the work. Some pundits have pointed to that as a positive, but the Panthers offense, when not being gifted with excellent field position by a superb defense, hasn’t been very good while employing that approach. And force-feeding Christian McCaffrey the ball is not a viable long-term strategy — the dude is already playing 99% of the snaps — and that’s what they’ll have to do to survive without a playmaker at the quarterback position.

Yes, the team is winning, which is why we’re hearing the MOMENTUM argument. First, there is overwhelming evidence, most of it coming from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, suggesting the idea of momentum is silly and making season-altering decisions based on made-up concepts is a good way to lose football games. Second, why aren’t we hearing these same appeals in New Orleans, where Teddy Bridgewater has the Saints at 4-0 under his watch? New Orleans hasn’t lost without Drew Brees and has beaten some good teams in the process. The answer is simple: Brees is the better quarterback, so he should play. That simple logic should be applied to Carolina’s situation, as well.

Players — not momentum — win games. Newton is the more talented player and gives the Panthers a better chance to win.  — Steven Ruiz