VENUE: Bank of America Stadium
The Green Bay Packers gave up a lot of passing yards in a season-opening victory. Their defense should be tested in their next game against a quarterback who turned in a surprising performance.
Cam Newton makes his home debut Sunday for the Carolina Panthers, who are hosting the Packers for the first time in six years.
The defending Super Bowl champions won their opener last Thursday behind a strong performance from Aaron Rodgers, named NFC offensive player of the week after completing 27 of 35 passes for 312 yards and three scores in a 42-34 win over New Orleans.
The Packers, however, allowed Drew Brees to throw for 419 yards and three touchdowns. That is the second-highest yardage total by an NFC quarterback behind Newton, the top overall pick by the Panthers.
The Heisman Trophy winner was 24 of 37 for 422 yards and two touchdowns to Steve Smith along with one interception and a rushing score in Sunday's 28-21 loss at Arizona.
"He did everything everybody didn't expect him to do," said Smith, whose 178 receiving yards leads the NFL. "He was on point. He made some great runs, some great reads and some fantastic throws."
The performance didn't escape the attention of the Packers after their trouble containing Brees.
"We're going into their stadium, it's their home opener," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I think Cam Newton was very impressive. For the young man to go out there in his first game and put up the numbers that he did, it looked like he was very much in control of their offense."
Newton's 422 yards are the most by a quarterback in his first start. His accuracy was far better than his 40.4 completion percentage in the preseason, yet he still believes there is room for improvement.
"There's going to be a lot more things I can look back on ... after I watch the film," Newton said. "One thing I know right now is you have to capitalize. When you're in the red zone you can't take a sack, you can't digress. You have to capitalize and get points when it matters."
The Packers are hoping to have cornerback Tramon Williams available to help counter Newton. Williams suffered a bruised shoulder in the opener.
Green Bay allowed New Orleans to finish with 477 total yards and convert 9 of 14 third downs. Still, the Packers felt their defense played well at times.
"We've got time to worry about our defensive stats later on," defensive end Ryan Pickett said. "In the game, the big thing about our defense, we made plays when we had to. That's been the story of our defense the last few years. When it comes down to the wire and we have to make a play, we make it.
Carolina, meanwhile, suffered a big blow to its defense last weekend when linebacker Jon Beason suffered a season-ending torn left Achilles' tendon. Beason had started 65 straight games.
Dan Connor, a former third-round draft pick out of Penn State who started half of the season last year, will take over at middle linebacker.
"You can pretty much imagine what it's going to be like to lose a leader like Jon," linebacker Thomas Davis said. "He's a guy who comes in day-in and day-out and gives you everything he has. It's going to be extremely tough for us."
Carolina has dropped six of seven home openers while Green Bay has won all five of its first road games under McCarthy. The Packers lead the all-time series, 7-4.
These teams last met Nov. 30, 2008, when Carolina won 35-31. The Panthers also won 32-29 in the Packers' last visit Oct. 3, 2005.
