Perhaps Cam Newton's personal life got the better of him on the gridiron.
The Panthers bid for an undefeated season unceremoniously ended Sunday when the Falcons handed them a 20-13 defeat in Atlanta. With the loss, Carolina missed out on being a part of history, and there are a lot of questions surrounding MVP candidate Cam Newton.
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The quarterback opened up the scoring with an eight-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, and then celebrated by miming rocking a baby to sleep. The unorthodox celebration led to many people speculating whether Newton's fiancée, Kia, gave birth to the couple's first baby.
Cam dance, Rock the baby, Gives the ball to a little boy. pic.twitter.com/24TKMfyONw
— NFL Intel (@IntelNFL) December 27, 2015
Kia, who reportedly used to be a stripper who went by the name Hazel, had a baby shower a couple of months ago and the news of the couple expecting a baby has been circulating for a while. For his part, Newton downplayed the celebration after the fact despite the speculation it fueled.
Cam Newton says there was no significance to his cradling the baby celebration. "I'm going to leave it at that." — Joe Person (@josephperson) December 27, 2015
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Whether or not Newton's first child was born, something in his personal life could have been a distraction on Sunday. Newton threw for 142 yards, but didn't have any touchdown passes in the game and was sacked twice. The signal caller also had seven carries for 46 yards and the touchdown, but overall something was wrong with Carolina in Week 16.
Newton knew that the 14-1 team blew a chance at history and didn't play well at all.
"We got our ass kicked today, and to a lot of degree, we deserved it, especially the type of way we played," he said, per NFL.com. "Offensively, defensively and special teams. And I'm talking with the mirror in front of my face. There were some plays that we left out there, we knew it."
Though they've had a tremendous season, the Panthers still have plenty to play for as they are locked in a battle with the Cardinals (13-2) over home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Carolina hosts Tampa Bay (6-9) next week, while Arizona welcomes Seattle (9-6).
The Panthers can get home-field advantage with a win or a tie or a Cardinals loss or tie, while Arizona clinches it with a win and a Carolina loss.
Whether or not Newton's off-the-field relationship played a factor in what happened Sunday is anyone's guess, but the Panthers will hope to right the ship now that their bid for history is over.
A photo posted by Ms. Kia (@_k1a_) on Dec 18, 2015 at 8:22am PST
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