A lot of air time has been spent on sports talk shows the past two weeks speculating that the New Orleans Saints will see a more cautious version of Superman this Sunday.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is expected back Sunday, fresh off of suffering the first concussion of his pro career against the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Newton has always seemed like the exception, the one quarterback capable of dishing out as much damage as a defensive linemen and remaining healthy.
But after a series of blows to the head in the season opener against Denver and the concussion at Atlanta, NFL experts have been wondering aloud for weeks if Newton will stop running through tacklers and start sliding or stepping out of bounds instead.
New Orleans is expecting to see the same old Newton on Sunday in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
"All I know is Cam Newton's a competitor, and he's one of the best in the league," Saints defensive end Kasim Edebali said. "If he's on the field, he's going to give everything he's got."
Roman Harper, who spent two seasons as Newton's teammate in Carolina, can't imagine the quarterback changing his playing style.
"When Cam's in, he's in," Harper said. "He's going to be himself. He can't help that."
Newton's numbers so far this season don't match his MVP season — he's completing 57.9 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and five interceptions — but the Panthers quarterback has also faced off against Denver and Minnesota, arguably the top two defenses in the NFL.
There is potential for Newton's numbers to rise significantly, even after the 1-4 start. With Kelvin Benjamin healthy again, Newton has more than just Greg Olsen at his disposal, and the Panthers will likely get running back Jonathan Stewart back as well.
If Newton's his normal, battering-ram self, he presents the kind of challenge New Orleans hasn't faced much this season.
Despite playing a string of veteran quarterbacks to start the year, the Saints have mostly played against pocket passers.
Newton presents a unique combination of mobility and strength.
"I thought Derek Carr, he's a good athlete, I think he's pretty mobile, but Cam's a different breed," Saints strong safety Kenny Vaccaro said. "He's not just mobile; he's strong in the pocket. Sometimes it takes two d-linemen to take him down, other times it doesn't, but he can definitely extend plays. And I think this year you see him keeping his eyes downfield and making big plays."
A New Orleans pass rush that has struggled at times this season must find ways to keep Newton contained in the pocket so pressure can speed up his decisions.
When Newton's able to escape, he can extend the play clock and force the Saints' secondary to cover two or three seconds longer than they'd normally have to against a pocket passer.
"We've just got to plaster our coverage and stay with our receivers," Saints cornerback Ken Crawley said. "Play within our coverage."
Newton's strength also keeps the Panthers from taking negative plays. A successful pass rush is no longer just getting to the quarterback; like no quarterback in the league other than arguably Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, Newton is capable of shrugging off the big loss even when he's in the arms of a defender.
"You think he's going a little bit easier than he does go down, and he's able to get the ball off, throw it away or something so you don't get a sack," Saints nose tackle Tyeler Davison said.
There are no easy answers to stopping Newton anymore, but the key, in Harper's mind, is to try to make him uncomfortable, starting with the pass rush.
And once he's on the move, there's no reason to expect Newton to slide.
"You can tell guys have been getting after him a little bit; you've just got to be physical," Edebali said. "You can't treat him like a regular quarterback, you've got to treat him like a running back."
A running back who's still plenty capable of running through any tackler who isn't in the right position.