Carolina Panthers 2011 regular season Review: A precursor to a bright future - NFL Special part IV
Continued from http://www.senore.com/Carolina-Panthers-2011-regular-season-Review-A-precursor-to-a-bright-future-NFL-Special-part-III-a130832
At Indianapolis
Once more in the season the Panthers found themselves on a three game losing streak but luckily for them their next game was on the road to a 0-11 record team.
The Indianapolis Colts had failed to win a single game in the 2011-12 season and to face a side in such poor form was just the tonic Carolina needed to boost their confidence.
The Panthers like every team before them simply destroyed the Colts as Newton rushed for a touchdown and passed for 208-yards during the game to lead Carolina to victory.
The Colts were level at the end of the first half with the score at 10-10 but that would not last long.
Carolina took complete control of the game in the second half and ended their losing streak with a well-deserved 27-19 win.
"This is something we can build off of, use as a springboard as we go forward," coach Ron Rivera said. "It's not where you are now -- it's where you're headed."
At Tampa Bay
Like the Colts, Carolina’s NFC South division rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on their own long losing run and the Panthers were not going to let the opportunity to string to wins together go so easily.
Newton made sure of victory as his brilliant performance in the game left the Buccaneers shell-shocked.
The rookie quarterback passed for 204-yards and a single touchdown while rushing for three more touchdowns to give Carolina a wonderful 38-19 win on the road against their rivals.
Newton’s three rushing touchdowns also wrote his name down in the history books as he secured the record of most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a season.
Carolina thanks to Newton were in complete control of the game as Tampa Bay just had three field goals and a single touchdown to show for all their efforts.
The win gave the Panthers their first back to back win of the season as their record jumped to 4-8.
Against Atlanta
On a two game winning run and in complete confidence the Carolina Panthers welcomed the Atlanta Falcons at the Bank of America Stadium.
The Panthers led by Newton turned on the style taking a 23-7 lead in the first half of the game as their rookie quarterback ran riot.
Newton passed for 276-yards and two passing touchdowns to build up their big lead as Atlanta could only manage an early first quarter touchdown by Roddy White from a Matt Ryan pass.
It seemed that Carolina had finally gained the confidence to take on the big boys in the NFL but they were brought back down to earth in the second half.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan led Atlanta to a brilliant comeback as he passed for three touchdowns in the final two quarters to shock Carolina into submission.
The Panthers two game winning run came to an abrupt end as the Falcons ran out 31-23 winners.
Newton had a poor second half as he threw two interceptions leading to turnovers and allowing the Falcons back into the game.
The rookie quarterback was not happy with his performance.
“Both interceptions were my fault. If you expect to win games you have to protect the football and I did a poor job of that today."
To be continued
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