"Tie-gate." The entire game in Seattle. The whole Panthers’ season — it’s all an onion. Not "The Onion," although any story about an NFL game that revolves around how the quarterback packed for a road trip comes off like satire.
No, it’s an onion with layers that need peeling away to get to the heart of it.
Most sane people — which may or may not include anyone on the defending NFC champion Panthers — don’t believe Cam Newton getting benched for one play on national TV late in a huge letdown of a season is completely about him not wearing a tie to comply with Ron Rivera’s travel dress code.