- During Sunday's game between the Green Bay Packers and the Carolina Panthers, Clay Matthews shouted out to his defense to be ready for a specific play.
- Cam Newton heard Matthews' prediction and noted that he had picked that up watching game film.
- Newton told Matthews to "Watch this," and then ran a different play and scored a touchdown.
Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers spoiled Aaron Rodgers' return to the field and the Green Bay Packers' playoff hopes in one shot with their 31-24 win on on Sunday.
It was a game full of drama, but the most impressive play of the game came on the Panthers' first touchdown, when Cam Newton called his shot during a pre-play comment directed at Clay Matthews.
As the Panthers stepped up to the line on second-and-goal, players on both sides of the ball began to call out their opponent's formation. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews thought he recognized what the Panthers were going to do and was caught on mic calling out to his defense "It's that wheel route! It's that wheel route!"
Hearing this, Cam Newton smiled, pointed at Matthews, and called back "You've been watching film, huh? That's cool, watch this."
Moments later, Newton snapped the ball and hit Christian McCaffrey on a wide open angle route in the end zone.
You can check out the back-and-forth below.
The play is a microcosm of the never-ending chess game that is professional football. On one side, the Packers had scouted out the Panthers goal line packages and plays, and thought they had figured out what play Carolina was going to run. On the other side of the ball, Newton heard Matthews' call, knew what Matthews thought he was seeing, and knew that McCaffrey would be open, giving him the confidence to call his shot.
With the win, the Panthers jump to 10-4 on the season and move one step closer to securing a playoff spot, with games against the Buccaneers and Falcons left to finish off the season.
- Nate Freeman (@NateFreemanNFL) December 18, 2017