Houston at Carolina

The Carolina Panthers were the most improved offensive team in the league a year ago. It was all about Cam Newton. He turned around what was the worst offense in the league in 2010, one which scored just 12.2 points per game and gained 258 yards per game. Newton transformed the offense into one that was a force, finishing No. 7 in the league, at 25.4 ppg and churning out 390 yards per contest. The Panthers needed help on defense, and with the No. 9 overall selection took a tackling guru in LB Luke Kuechly, who should have an immediate impact. It should help Charles Johnson to be more aggressive and record a lot more sacks. The Texans made the playoffs last year despite QB Matt Schaub going down with an injury. This team is pretty well set, so I don't expect to see much from them here except going through the motions, and getting a few reps. The Panthers have some battles on defense for playing time, so there should be more of an effort here. I have several preseason systems that play on contrarian stats (play on the worse team) that apply to Carolina in this one. Take the Panthers to win here.