2011 Carolina Panthers season The Carolina Panthers season was the franchise ' s 17th season in the National Football League and the first season for Ron Rivera as the head coach . In Week 16 of the 2010 season , the team clinched the NFL ' s worst record of the year and was given the # 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft , with which the team selected quarterback Cam Newton , the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner . They improved on their 2 – 14 record from 2010 , and finished 6 – 10 , missing the playoffs for the third year in a row . Despite their losing record , Carolina made many improvements . According to " Football Outsiders " , the Panthers had the biggest year - to - year offensive improvement in their history : they were dead last in 2010 , and moved up to 4th offensively in 2011 , according to " Football Outsiders " ' statistical formulas . In addition , " Football Outsiders " states that Carolina had the best running game in their calculations ' history . This was due to the addition of Cam Newton ' s running ability to the high - quality running tandem of running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart . The rushing attack eclipsed that of the previous record holder , the 2000 St . Louis Rams . In the process , Carolina became the first team in NFL history to have three players with 700 or more yards rushing in the same season : running back DeAngelo Williams with 836 , running back Jonathan Stewart with 761 and quarterback Cam Newton with 706 . The Panthers also set the team record for net yards with 6 , 237 yards , breaking the record originally set by the 2004 team . Carolina ' s defense , however , was ranked last in the league , according to Football Outsiders . They allowed the fifth - most total yards in the league on defense in 2011 , and the sixth - most points . Their pass defense gave up 7 . 6 yards per pass attempt ( tied for worst in the league ) , and their 6 . 2 yards allowed per play was tied for third - worst in the league . Preseason . Schedule . The Panthers ' preseason schedule was announced on April 12 , 2011 . Regular season . Game summaries . Week 1 : at Arizona Cardinals . The Panthers opened up their regular season on the road against the Cardinals . Cam Newton came into the game after a mixed - performance 1 - 3 preseason . Newton surprisingly threw for 422 pass yards , an NFL record for a rookies ' debut . The Panthers came into the 3rd quarter leading 14 - 7 , Newton having thrown 2 touchdown passes , each to Steve Smith . The Panthers came into the 4th quarter tied at 21 . On a 4th & 13 at the Cardinals 47 yard line , the Panthers were forced to punt . Patrick Peterson returned the ball into the endzone for an 89 - yard touchdown return . 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 . With the loss the Panthers fell to 0 - 1 and lost their 3rd consecutive regular season opener . Week 2 : vs . Green Bay Packers . 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 . Newton picked off where he left off against the Cardinals with an early score with 9 : 26 left in the 1st quarter of the game . The Panthers would lead 13 - 7 at halftime , stunning the defending Super Bowl champions . However , Green Bay would come back when Aaron Rodgers threw a 49 - yard touchdown pass to a wide - open Greg Jennings to put the Packers up 14 - 13 . A big game - changer was when there was 9 : 31 left in the 3rd quarter of the game . Cam Newton found Steve Smith , but Smith fumbled the football and Charles Woodson picked it up . Another big game changer was on a 4th and 4 at the Packers 6 yard line with 3 : 23 left in the game , score being 23 - 16 Packers , Cam Newton tried to scramble for the first down , but was 2 yards shy . The Packers would go on to win the game , 30 - 23 , a much closer game than expected , but the Panthers still fell to 0 - 2 on the season . Week 3 : vs . Jacksonville Jaguars . The Panthers came into Week 3 in need of a win in order to save their season . This game would be against the Jacksonville Jaguars , who had gone 8 - 8 last season and were 1 - 1 to start the season in 2011 . The Jaguars would bench Luke McCown and start rookie Blaine Gabbert after McCown ' s disastrous 4 interceptions in a devastating 32 - 3 loss to the New York Jets . The Panthers would start the game by sacking Gabbert and getting a safety , to lead 2 - 0 . With the score 5 - 3 , rain started coming down , and due to this , Gabbert was picked off by Sherrod Martin . With 0 : 06 left in the 1st half , Blaine Gabbert threw a 36 - yard touchdown pass to Mike Thomas which was the first career touchdown pass by Blaine Gabbert and the first touchdown pass for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2011 season . Jacksonville would go up 10 - 5 at halftime . However , Carolina would come back . With 6 : 05 left in the 4th quarter , the rain not coming down anymore , Cam Newton finally found Steve Smith for a gain of 13 yards . On the same drive , with 4 : 27 left , on a 3rd and 2 , Cam Newton found his new tight end , Greg Olsen , for a 16 - yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers up 14 - 10 . They would get the 2 - point conversion which would put them up 16 - 10 . Then , at the Panthers 35 yard line , 0 : 06 remaining on the game clock , the last play of the game , Blaine Gabbert ' s pass was tipped and incomplete , giving the Panthers ' their first win of the season , putting them at 1 - 2 . Week 4 : at Chicago Bears . In order to keep their season alive , the Panthers were in need of a win against the Bears to qualify for their first 2 - 2 or above start since 2008 . Cam Newton threw for another thrilling 374 pass yards , which would be the highest total he would end up throwing for the rest of the season . Things started rough for the Panthers when Newton threw a pass to D . J . Moore which was taken back the other way for a Chicago Bears touchdown which put the Bears up , 10 - 3 . Panthers now trailing 17 - 10 , on a 4th and 5 , forced to punt , Devin Hester beats out the Panthers special teams ' for a 69 - yard punt return , which would break the NFL record for punt return touchdowns ( 11 ) . At halftime , the Panthers were trailing 24 - 20 . The third quarter was scoreless . But in the fourth quarter , with 14 : 17 remaining on the game clock , Jay Cutler threw a pass to Charles Godfrey for an interception which they would get a field goal out of . 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 . Matt Forte basically sealed the deal on the very next play from the Bears ' 43 when he ran for 40 yards down to the Panthers ' 3 . The Bears would punch it in and would go on to win the game , 34 - 29 . For the first time in his career , Cam Newton was nominated for the Pepsi Rookie Of The Week awards . With the loss , the Panthers fell to 1 - 3 . Week 5 : vs . New Orleans Saints . The Panthers came into Week 5 again craving a win to get their season back on track . This time they were facing the former super bowl champions , the New Orleans Saints . The Saints were leading 10 - 0 with 3 : 04 left in the first quarter when Cam Newton threw a pass to wide receiver Steve Smith for a 54 yard touchdown after the touchdown Roman Harper was called for unnecessary rouchness in the endzone . There would be a short fight after the play , and Olindo Mare would miss the extra point , it being blocked . With 4 : 01 left in the second quarter , the Panthers were trailing 17 - 6 . Not when DeAngelo Williams took a left pitch from Cam Newton for a 69 - yard score , Williams ' first touchdown since 2009 . Right before halftime , with 0 : 10 left , Sean Payton was trying to get the field goal unit out on the field for a John Kasay 46 - yard field goal . Ron Rivera took a timeout because he thought he had too many men on the field , which would cost them a field goal which put the Saints up , 20 - 13 . With 2 : 36 left in the third quarter , on a 2nd and 8 , score 23 - 20 Saints , Drew Brees was intercepted by Sherrod Martin . 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 . Saints go up , 30 - 27 . With 0 : 27 left , on a fourth - and - 10 , Cam Newton ' s pass is incomplete , intended for Greg Olsen , but there was a pass interference call on Roman Harper which set up a Panthers first down . Then , on a 3rd and 12 with 0 : 05 remaining , Cam Newton ' s pass , intended for Steve Smith is incomplete . With the close loss the Panthers fell to 1 - 4 on the season , though only being outscored 119 - 132 on the season . Week 6 : at Atlanta Falcons . With the loss , the Panthers fell to 1 - 5 . Week 7 : vs . Washington Redskins . 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 for a Carolina win . With the win , the Panthers rose to 2 - 5 . Week 8 : vs . Minnesota Vikings . With the loss , the Panthers fell to 2 - 6 . Week 10 : vs . Tennessee Titans . With the loss , the Panthers fell to 2 - 7 . Week 11 : at Detroit Lions . With the surprising loss , the Panthers fell to 2 - 8 . Week 12 : at Indianapolis Colts . With the win , the Panthers improved to 3 - 8 and would secure the Colts ' 0 - 4 record against NFC Opponents . Week 13 : at Tampa Bay Buccaneers . With the win , the Panthers improved to 4 - 8 . Week 14 : vs . Atlanta Falcons . With their 4th straight loss to the Falcons , the Panthers fell to 4 - 9 securing them their 2nd consecutive losing season . Week 15 : at Houston Texans . With the win , the Panthers improved to 5 - 9 . Week 16 : vs . Tampa Bay Buccaneers . With the win , the Panthers improved to 6 - 9 and swept the Buccaneers . Week 17 : at New Orleans Saints . The Panthers look to win their third straight against the New Orleans Saints in Week 17 and their third straight road game and finish the season at 6 - 10 , which would be a 4 - game improvement over the previous 2 - 14 record from the 2010 season . The last time the Panthers faced the Saints , the Saints won 30 - 27 in a close matchup . Cam Newton looks to get his first 400 yard passing game since Week 2 of the 2011 regular season .