Rivera not worried about losing team after benching Newton

When the Panthers’ offense took the field for their game against the Seahawks on Sunday night, Cam Newton wasn’t with them. The problem, Newton said, was that he failed to pack a collared dress shirt that would accommodate a tie for the team’s extended West Coast road trip that began with last week’s game at the Oakland Raiders. “I should’ve just cleared it first”, said Newton, who wore a black turtleneck under a charcoal jacket.

And as controversial as the turtleneck was, it wasn’t the only the only major talking point from the game. Now, the Seahawks must play the rest of the regular season and likely a big chunk of the postseason without their star safety.

“You can’t make up for it”, defensive end Michael Bennett said.

“You can’t really tell where people are”. It’s hard to replace a great player, a Hall of Fame-type player. Sure, key starters Luke Kuechly and Kurt Coleman were both out with concussions, and top sack-getter Mario Addison was still in Charlotte with a foot injury, but the Seahawks easily piled up 40 points just seven days after they scored just five in Tampa Bay.

Kam Chancellor offered his take on Thomas’s tweet, too.

And that’s not going to be fixed by a necktie.

“When you get injured, it becomes very emotional”, said Chancellor. When a team with high expectations is 4-8, sometimes the smallest of things can lead to a coach and a staff losing the locker room. But look closely enough and you just might see it – namely in the maturation of one Cam Newton. He is may the top safety in the National Football League and the team wouldn’t let him walk away so easily. I made a decision; the decision is I treat everyone the same way.

Members of the Seahawks’ medical training staff carried Thomas off the field so he wouldn’t have to put weight on his left leg. And he lasted barely one quarter before suffering an even more significant blow.

There is no replacing Earl Thomas and all he means to Seattle’s stingy defense. However, there is a reason why the Seahawks have been consistent for so long and a big part of their success has been the health of their key players over the course of multiple seasons.

Cam Newton wore neon cleats during the game (l.) but black-and-blue cleats during warmups.

That the sartorially minded Newton, who doesn’t show up to press conferences until his pink suits and feather-trimmed hats are perfectly in place, was disciplined for a wardrobe malfunction is karma, as Richard Sherman might say.

But ESPN’s Mike Golic says he doesn’t think Thomas is serious about retirement.