It was supposed to be a straightforward win for Norfolk State against North Carolina Central, but things went horribly wrong at the finish. Leading for most of the game, the Spartans were undone by a costly miscommunication between head coach Michael Vick and offensive coordinator Brian Sheppard, eventually losing 29–28. And the fallout hasn’t stopped there, with NFL great Cam Newton now taking a brutal shot at Vick.

In a recent episode of 4th&1, Omari “Peggy” Collins asked Cam Newton who his fraud of the day was. The former Carolina Panthers QB wasted no time naming Michael Vick, accusing him of letting his team lose against an opponent they should have beaten. Newton then revisited the final sequence that led to the defeat, explaining how a disastrous formation mistake ultimately cost Vick’s team the game.

“They was not in that formation. They broke that huddle in a different formation, and I’m saying to myself, ‘Hey, no, what we not doing this call talking about? Hey, man, pick that headset up.’ And, hey, Peggy, I said, ‘Victory formation, big dog. I don’t care what y’all trying to do, man,’” said Newton.

Newton argued that Vick let a team with little chance of winning beat him, and pointed to a viral video of the aftermath as a reason fans were questioning whether Vick had control of his team.

His comments came after Norfolk State dominated for three quarters, taking a 21-7 lead into halftime before extending it to 28-17 early in the fourth quarter. However, the Spartans failed to close out the game when it mattered most. With North Carolina Central out of timeouts and just 1:34 remaining, Norfolk State had possession and needed only to run down the clock to secure the victory.

According to Vick, he had called for the team to line up in victory formation and take a knee to run out the clock. Instead of kneeling, quarterback Deljay Bailey carried the ball and lost it.

North Carolina Central recovered the loose ball, and the Eagles drove downfield for a touchdown. A failed two-point try left them ahead 29-28.

Addressing the media after the heartbreaking loss, Vick insisted that he had told his offense exactly what to do, but the players did not follow his instructions.

“I put my headset down. I called victory formation. All we had to do was take a knee, kneel the clock out. That’s just situational football. I don’t know what happened in regards to that. I looked up and we was running the ball, and then I seen the fumble. But my final instructions was victory formation. That’s when you kneel it out. And they had, I think, zero timeouts left and the game was over practically,” said Michael Vick.

“Well, I put my headset down, and I took my headset off because all we had to do was just run it three times, or two times, or kneel it out,” he continued. “That’s called victory. I don’t know what happened.”

The bigger concern for Michael Vick is that Norfolk State’s inability to close out games is becoming a recurring problem. Now in his second season as head coach, Vick has improved on last year’s disastrous 1-11 campaign, but the Spartans are still 4-6 following their latest defeat.

This is not the first time they have let a commanding lead slip away. Against Delaware State on October 31, Norfolk State squandered a 33-16 advantage, allowing the Hornets to score the final 20 points and steal a 36-33 victory.

With around a minute remaining, Elyjah Mitchell fumbled a reception, handing Delaware State possession at the Spartans’ 15-yard line. Matteo Bracalenti then sealed the comeback with a 35-yard field goal as time expired.

Michael Vick’s team is struggling, and there is evidently a lack of communication between the head coach and his players. The reason behind it remains unknown, but for now, the front office will have to step in and manage the situation.