As they head into their third game of the 2014 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is still looking to register their first turnover. However, their opponent Sunday night, the Carolina Panthers, have yet to turn the football over in the two games that they have played.
During his career, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has thrown 42 interceptions and based on those throws, the Steelers defense is going to have to put him into some predictable situations if they are going to register any picks Sunday night.
15 (35.7%) of Newton’s career interceptions have happened on plays when the Panthers offense has needed 10 or more yards to go on either second or third down.
Of Newton’s five other third down interceptions that he has thrown so far during his career, four have happened with his offense needing six or more yards in order to move the chains.
Of his eight other interceptions on second downs with less than 10 yards or more to go, five of them happened when he needed six to nine yards for a first down.
Newton has also only thrown six first quarter interceptions so far during his career and five of those happened on either second or third down with him needing eight or more yards for a first down.
14 of Newton’s 42 interceptions happened when the Panthers were trailing by seven or more points.
Of Newton’s 11 fourth quarter interceptions that he’s thrown during his career, seven happened when he is training by 14 or more points.
(Note: there is one interception that I wasn’t able to track down for this study)
