Carolina Panthers Twenty Bracket: Rivera Region Round 2

Oct 13, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera watches quarterback Cam Newton (1) during a break in the game against the Minnesota Vikings at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. Panthers win 35-10. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

1 Seed CAM NEWTON over 8 Seed Charles Johnson

This matchup shows the nature of the things these days. A decade ago, a key defensive end might be preferred to the starting quarterback. Not so these days. Newton, the 103 million dollar man, has to be good for the Panthers of this era to be good. Playmaking is something we expect from Cam where Delhomme was mostly charged with not screwing it up.

5 Seed THOMAS DAVIS over 4 Seed Ron Rivera

Davis has been around for ten years now. I have said this before, but Davis was originally drafted ass some sort of Michael Vick spy. It turns out if you can tackle and run down Michael Vick, you can tackle and run down just about anybody. That was why it was always painful to see Davis get hurt over and over. Fortunately he has recovered superbly. That is why he beats Riverboat Ron.