The 2011 season was the Carolina Panthers' 17th in the National Football League (NFL) and their first under head coach Ron Rivera.
In addition, Football Outsiders states that Carolina had the best running game in their calculations' history.
Newton surprisingly threw for 422 pass yards, an NFL record for a rookie in his first start.
With 1:19 left, 4th and 5, at the Cardinals 6-yard line, game on the line, Cam Newton threw a short 4-yard pass to Mike Goodson which wasn't enough for the Panthers despite an amazing debut by Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton.
The Panthers' first home game of the season was a duel against the defending super bowl champions, the Green Bay Packers.
Cam Newton threw for once again another 400+ yard game, becoming the first rookie ever to do so and only the 6th quarterback in NFL history to accomplish such a feat.
However, Green Bay came back when Aaron Rodgers threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Greg Jennings to put the Packers up 14–13.
A heavy rain started coming down, blanketing the stadium and flooding the concrete decks.
The reason was CBS' main camera feed was covered with so many raindrops that identifying specific players on the field was nearly impossible.
Viewers, therefore, had to rely on the call from play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes as to what was happening on the play.
With 6:05 left in the 4th quarter, and the rain not coming down anymore although the field, players, and fans were still soaked, Cam Newton found Steve Smith for a gain of 13 yards.
With 4:27 left, on a 3rd and 2, Newton found his new tight end, Greg Olsen, for a 16-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers up 14–10.
But in the fourth quarter, with 14:17 remaining, Jay Cutler threw a pass to Charles Godfrey for an interception which the Panthers converted into a field goal.
With 1:55 left on the game clock, Panthers trailing by 1, 23–24, on a fourth-and-10 at their own 42, Cam Newton threw a deep pass to Legedu Naanee which was incomplete.
Off of the interception, with 12:40 left in the game, on a 3rd and goal, Newton found Greg Olsen for a 5-yard touchdown to put the Panthers up 27–23.
With 0:56 left in the game, Brees threw a short pass to Pierre Thomas for a six-yard score.
The Panthers came into this game with a 1–5 record, hoping to come back and fight to stay in the race for the playoffs.
The Panthers held the lead just about the whole game as Cam Newton had 256 passing yards (& tied Vince Young's record for Most Rush TD by QB in Single Season for a rookie) for a Carolina win.
With the surprising loss, the Panthers fell to 2–8 but Cam Newton broke Vince Young's record for Most Rush TD by QB in Single Season by a rookie.
With their 4th straight loss to the Falcons, the Panthers fell to 4–9 securing them their second consecutive losing season.