Cam Newton vs. Green Bay Packers: Grading the Rookie's Performance

So far, so impressive for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. 

Carolina's Cam Newton had an outing very similar to his performance against the Arizona Cardinals, in which he broke a record for the most passing yards by a first-year starting quarterback in his first game with 422 passing yards and two scoring tosses.

Today, against the reigning Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, Newton torched the secondary for 432 passing yards and rushed for 53 yards on 10 carries.

Granted, it was another losing effort for the Panthers, who drop to a familiar place at 0-2.

That said, this appears to be a drastically improved Panthers team. Steve Smith, who caught six passes for 156 yards today, seemingly has been resurrected and returned to his Pro Bowl-caliber status.

Newton has a grasp of this offense that no Carolina quarterback had last season. It's very apparent that the rookie from Auburn is poised for a very successful career as a quarterback in the NFL.

OK, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. But quarterbacks in the past few seasons that have started strong have stayed strong.

Newton's level of respect from others is likely to skyrocket. He threw three interceptions today in the loss, but there is no doubt he's way ahead of the curve.

The NFC South is starting to look like the strongest division at quarterback featuring Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Josh Freeman and Newton.

You could possibly claim there's some fools gold here. Green Bay's defense fittingly was "Swiss cheese" last week against the Saints.

They faced an elite quarterback, however, and it might not be time to credit Newton's performance to a lackluster defense until we see this Packers team play some more games.

The best news here is the fact that Carolina, arguably the worst team in the league last season, lost their first two games so far by scores of 28-21 and 30-23, respectively.

For any other elite quarterback, you might look at the loss and the three interceptions and shrug.

But, when it comes to a team like the Carolina Panthers, and a rookie quarterback who was expected to struggle in his first few starts, you have to be impressed.

There's obvious improvement and a new found electricity in this Panthers locker room and fanbase, and you have to assume Newton correlates with that change.

Had he thrown one interception, I'd immediately rate his performance an "A."

Instead, Newton gets a very, very solid "A-"—not bad at all.