The Cam Newton-Tom Brady juxtaposition was intriguing.

It’s no coincidence that more than half of the NFL schedule will pass before the Tampa Bay Bucs and New England Patriots play a game in the same time slot. Those TV people, gotta hand it to them.

The inaugural doubleheader Sunday had one more twist, the Dolphins-Patriots nationally televised game was preempted in this market by the Panthers, Cam’s old team, also playing at 1 o’clock.

It may be my personal bias, but Newton looked much better in his new team’s red and white-trimmed, full navy-blue uniform than Brady, 43, appeared in his plain white Buccaneers garb. And while both were clearly still getting used to their new homes, No. 1 seemed more fired up to resume his pro career after an 86-day layoff from football than an almost blasé TB12 about his post-Pats phase of life.

Signed way late into free agency, Newton had only a month with Bill Belichick’s complicated playbook, so he used his natural skills to give New England the new dimension of a running quarterback. He ran the option to spring himself a couple of times and powered his way up the middle for important yardage, scoring two TDs. And Cam was a better passer than I remember him, hitting 15 of 19, including 9 of 10 in the decisive second half of the fan-less, 21-11 win.

Meanwhile, the Panthers looked better than their old selves with new leader Teddy Bridgewater taking them to the brink of victory before losing to the Las Vegas Raiders; now, doesn’t that sound strange.

In the second game on Fox, Brady got his first QB sneak for a touchdown on the opening drive and later threw two scoring passes, but in between he had two interceptions, one for a pick-six.

The Bucs may turn out very good, but now aren’t in the same league as their NFL-South rival Saints, who Brees-ed to victory. And doesn’t Gronk look lighter and less menacing in his return?

In next week’s double-dip, the Tom-pa Bay Gronk-aneers host those same Panthers and, at night, the Campatriots are in Seattle to face the smaller version of Newton, more meticulous Russell Wilson.

Featured image via Steven Senne/AP

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