The Carolina Panthers opened with Derek Anderson at quarterback, not reigning MVP Cam Newton, in Sunday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Apparently, benching Newton was coach Ron Rivera’s call. Newton came in for the Panthers’ second series. And you might be surprised to hear the reason why.

NBC’s Al Michaels reported late in the first quarter that Newton “broke a minor team rule” and he felt he had to discipline Newton for it. At the start of the third quarter, NBC’s Michele Tafoya clarified what the team rule was — a “dress-code violation.”

According to a report from WBTV-Charlotte, Newton might not have had a tie on.

When asked after the game, Rivera explained why Newton was benched.

“It was a travel dress-code violation, and the decision was to treat him like I do all the other players on the team and he didn’t start,” Rivera said.

Rivera said he was benching him for a series, he just didn’t expect it to be a one-play series. When asked about the report that Newton didn’t wear a tie, he got frustrated.

“I’m not going to get into what our dress code is, OK?” Rivera said. “I just explained to you why I did it. I’m not going to get into it.”

The irony of this, of course, is that Newton is a noted clothes horse who shows up to his postgame press conferences in some elaborate outfits, one more gregarious than the next. There’s also this: Newton has a clothing line called “MADE” and … he even makes a tie! Yes, you too can own a Newton tie (price: $19.99 — down from $50, which is not too shabby), but he apparently did not have one on at some point leading up to Sunday night.

Hopefully Rivera felt it was worth it, because the game started horrendously for the Panthers. Anderson was intercepted on the first play of the game. The Seahawks converted it quickly into a field goal a few plays later and a 3-0 lead before anyone knew what was happening. It was 23-7 Seahawks at the half, and they score a touchdown on the opening play of the second half to make it 30-7 mere seconds into the third quarter.

When Newton didn’t start, nobody knew what was going on. Did he miss a team meeting? Get into trouble while the team was in Seattle? The NBC announcers were as surprised with the development as everyone watching at home was, and had something happened earlier in the week Rivera might have clued them in during production meetings leading up to the game.

Newton was the story of the league last season as the Panthers went 15-1. On Sunday he was benched for the start of the game, and a very odd season for the Panthers got even stranger.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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