Carolina Panthers 2011 regular season Review: A precursor to a bright future - NFL Special part I
2011-12 was the season Carolina Panthers returned to relevancy in the National Football League (NFL) as they became one of the most exciting teams to watch this year after drafting the number one draft pick quarterback Cam Newton.
The Panthers went 2-14 in the 2010-11 season to end up with the first pick in the drafts and brought in Cam Newton to liven up the offence.
Newton exceeded all expectations and his brilliant performances led the Panthers to a 6-10 finish and third in the National Football Conference (NFC) South.
The quarterback passed for a season total of 4,051 breaking Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning’s rookie season record while also creating his own record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season with 14.
Carolina could even have qualified for the playoffs, but in many of their games they failed to maintain first half leads and with the franchise battling with record players going into injured reserve a 6-10 finish was more than they could have asked for.
In this article and its subsequent parts we will look at how Cam Newton and the Panthers season panned out.
At Arizona
Carolina Panthers started their season off against Arizona Cardinals as Newton was given license by coach newly appointed head coach Ron Rivera to show the NFL what he can do.
The rookie 22-year-old did not disappoint at all. Newton made a new rookie record with his performance against the Cardinals passing for a total of 422-yards as he became the first player in history to pass for 400+ yards on his debut.
Newton also threw two touchdown passes during the game and a one-yard rushing touchdown to give the Panthers a 21-14 lead heading into the final period.
However, the youngster’s efforts were not enough to give Carolina the win.
The Cardinals own rookie quarterback Kevin Kolb led Arizona to a huge fourth quarter comeback as they ran out 28-21 winners.
The Panthers season did not start the way they expected yet Newton’s promising performance was a precursor for better times ahead.
Against Green Bay
Newton had a second straight 400+ yard game in week 2 against the defending Super Bowl champions Green Bay Packers but once again his efforts fell short of helping the Panthers to victory.
Newton passed for 432-yards throwing a single touchdown and scoring another on the rush. His three interceptions though proved costly and the Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers showed the rookie how it’s done with a wonderful performance.
The Panthers season was not going forward the way they expected as they lost 30-23 but coach Ron Rivera kept faith with Newton and praised the quarterbacks improving performances.
"This is a rookie quarterback that's learning and growing and getting better each opportunity he gets,"
At Jacksonville
Carolina finally got the victory they were looking for against Jacksonville Jaguars in week three ending a two game losing run.
Newton once again started for the Panthers and even though he did not pass for 400-yards this time, his efforts were enough to see Carolina to victory.
Newton completed 18 out of 34 attempted passes as he passed for 158-yards and a single touchdown to lead his team to a 16-10 win.
Carolina was losing 10-5 at the end of the first half but shutout the Jaguars completely in the second.
Kicker Olindo Mare’s third period field goal and Newton’s fourth quarter touchdown pass was enough for Carolina.
To be continued
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