Carolina Panthers 2011 regular season Review: A precursor to a bright future - NFL Special part III
Continued from http://www.senore.com/Carolina-Panthers-2011-regular-season-Review-A-precursor-to-a-bright-future-NFL-Special-part-II-a130829
Against Washington
A 1-5 record, entering week seven of the National Football League (NFL) 2011-12 season and things were starting to look bleak for the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers had lost three straight games and were in need of a lift to kick-start their season once again. They did just that.
Newton rushed for a 16-yard touchdown and passed for another as the Panthers finally got their second win of the season running out 33-20 winners with a brilliant performance.
The Redskins struggled to keep pace in the game as Carolina showcased their offensive capabilities.
Against Minnesota
This game once again pitted two rookie quarterbacks against each other as Vikings Christian Ponder faced off against Cam Newton.
The game once again descended into a close fought encounter as both the quarterbacks showcased their impressive talents in the Bank of America stadium.
Newton threw for three touchdowns and a gain of 290-yards in the first three periods but the Vikings came back twice to tie the scores with Ponder combining brilliantly with Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson.
The game was all tied at 21-21 in the third period as Peterson brought Minnesota level with just two minutes left in the third quarter.
Carolina once again showed their inability to perform in the final quarter of the game. The Panthers failed to score a single point in the last 15 minutes and the Vikings won the game 24-21 as kicker Ryan Longwell’s 31-yard field goal at 2:43 turned out to be the difference between the two teams.
"Whoever thinks that this game came down to the last possession is a fool," Newton said. "Offensively and defensively, we had opportunities, man."
Against Tennessee
The Panthers had a bye-week in week nine and were rested and ready to face the Tennessee Titans at home in week 10 with a capacity crowd hoping that the time off would help Carolina get their act together.
What happened though shocked almost everyone.
Carolina played poorly and in their worst performance of the season ended up losing the game by a huge 30-3 margin.
Newton was harassed and harried throughout the game leading to a multitude of errors from the number one draft pick.
The quarterback could not muster any meaningful plays and passed for only 212-yards. Newton also threw an interception to complete his worst night in the NFL.
The Titans were always on top and were up 17-0 at the end of the first half.
The Panthers could only score a single field goal throughout the game as Tennessee completed the rout with ease.
At Detroit
The defeat to Tennessee hurt Newton badly and the quarterback returned to his brilliant best against Detroit Lions in week 11 but once again his efforts fell short as he was outperformed by another inform quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The capacity crowd at Ford Field was treated with one of the best games of the season as both Newton and Stafford tried their best to outdo each other.
Newton led the Panthers to a 27-14 lead at the end of the first half but to their horror saw that lead pegged back in the third quarter as Stafford passed for two touchdowns to give the Lions a 28-27 lead.
The entire game now hinged on the final 15 minutes and the Panthers were up to the challenge for a while.
Lions increased their lead at 8:02 through Kevin Smith’s touchdown run to make it 35-27 but Newton was not ready to give up.
The rookie quarterback rushed for 6-yards and managed a two point conversion to get Carolina level on points in the final five minutes.
With the score tied at 35-35 it was anybody’s game for the taking and Stafford took it.
Showing incredible calmness the 2009 number one draft pick showed Newton how to make a late comeback as the Lions scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes to run out 49-35 winners.
To be continued
The views expressed in this article do not reflect the editorial policy of bettor.com
Tags: