Why didn’t anyone protect Cam Newton on Thursday night?

Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall left his feet to deliver a helmet-to-helmet hit on Newton on one play.

“We’ve got a heck of a team, a resilient team, I think you saw that tonight”, said Peyton Manning’s successor, who finished 18 of 26 for 178 yards with one TD, two interceptions and two sacks. “Key players in crunch time rarely ever get removed for an evaluation, probably because the ATC spotter doesn’t want to be blamed for creating a competitive disadvantage if, for example, Cam Newton had been unavailable to the Panthers for the final drive if, as it turns out, Newton didn’t have a concussion”.

Newton said later that he was asked some questions after the 21-20 Broncos victory before the determination was made that he didn’t need to be placed in concussion protocol. Carolina went back to the more exotic run game that made them successful last season but was not prevalent in the game last February.

But the issue was raised, at least, during Newton’s postgame news conference.

And practically no one came to the aid of the Carolina Panthers quarterback and reigning League Most Valuable Player.

Rivera ran with the prevailing theory of the moment, that Newton does not get flags like other quarterbacks do given his size, physicality and nature of Carolina’s offense.

Furthermore, that one Broncos penalty wasn’t even enforced because Newton was simultaneously penalized for illegal grounding, which seems rather harsh because anyone would chuck the ball to any old place if they were getting cracked in the head.

It’s unclear whether Newton actually suffered a concussion, though he did receive treatment immediately after the game.

“They asked me a couple questions”, Newton said, “but nothing too serious”.

“We played in a lot of big games a year ago against a lot of great teams, so I tried to simulate that feeling as much as I could”, Siemian said.

After Gano’s 36-yard field goal brought the Panthers to 21-20, Carolina forced a three-and-out and Newton & Co. got the ball back at their 40 with 3:06 remaining. He added, “I try to warn the refs every time I do get hit in the head”.

Newton suffered several blows to the head during the game.

Greg Olsen believes officials need to start treating Newton like an National Football League quarterback. “I really like the officiating crew”.

In July, the league adopted stronger concussion protocols that included not only an independent neurologist on the sideline but also a second spotter in a suite above the field who could signal for play to be stopped so a player could be examined for a possible concussion.

And while the Panthers medical staff went out to check on him, this is the kind of situation that leads to the second part of the problem. I’m not going to pass judgment on anyone.

“I know he’s the biggest guy on the field, but he’s still the quarterback”, Olsen said. He didn’t take the bait once, always talking about how he and the team just have to play better. (Hochuli denied it.) Newton wouldn’t say why he bit his tongue Thursday, but emphasized he knew people were going to be scrutinizing his interaction with the media after an infamous, abbreviated session with reporters following the Super Bowl.