Josh Freeman is out as quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the game against the Carolina Panthers. Josh Freeman is out with a shoulder injury and will be replaced by Josh Johnson as the Buc’s quarterback against the Panthers.

This could be good news for the Carolina Panthers or it could be bad news. Josh Johnson is a decent quarterback who is probably even more athletic than Josh Freeman. I liked Johnson when he came out of college and thought he would be the Buc’s starting quarterback.

For Josh Johnson this is an audition for employment on a future team. If Josh Johnson lights up the Carolina Panthers then he becomes attractive to other teams as a free agent or even in a trade.

As I pointed out here in my preview of the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, the Buc’s are not having a good year. It could be the shoulder injury by Freeman has contributed to that. The team may just get fired up with a very athletic and healthy Josh Johnson at the helm.

But on the plus side for the Carolina Panthers, Johnson is the backup and probably hasn’t had a lot of practice reps this season. Getting an early lead is very important for the Panthers now. Josh Johnson is not a great passer and making him throw often can cause some turnovers and win the game for the Panthers.

Jon Beason is out for the season with a torn Achilles leaving the Panthers without their best defensive player. The Panthers are lucky to have such a deep linebacking unit as Dan Conner will replace Jon Beason at middle linebacker.

Jon Beason missed the entire preseason with an injury probably related to his Achilles which he tore against the Cardinals. After having minor surgery Beason rushed back to play and was injured and will be out for the season.

Jon Beason is a three time Pro Bowl middle linebacker and was a first team All Pro once. In four seasons Beason has 421 tackles, 122 assists, eight interceptions, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries according to profootballreference.com

The Panthers will certainly miss Jon Beason at middle linebacker even if Dan Conner steps up in a big way. Beason would have gotten hurt no matter what but the defensive line needs to step up to help the other linebackers.

Speculation is that Carolina Panthers will replace Jon Beason with a veteran defensive tackle. After week one NFL teams can pick up veteran players without having to guarantee their salary for the entire season. This protects the team if the player is a dud and makes sure the player will go all out in order to keep the checks coming in.

Cam Newton set a NFL record for passing yards in a player’s first game with 422 in the 28-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Yes Cam Newton broke Peyton Manning’s record when he passed for 422 yards in the most impressive quarterback debut in NFL history.

Cam Newton’s debut against the Arizona Cardinals ended with him completing 24 of 37 passes for 422 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Yes the Carolina Panthers did lose the game to the Arizona Cardinals but may well have found the all elusive Franchise Quarterback that every team craves. Of course only the future will tell us if Cam is indeed the player most Panther fans want him to be.

I was very impressed with the poise that Cam Newton showed in his NFL debut against the Cardinals. Even when things went bad from the blitzes multiple sacks and the interception, Newton stayed calm. He did get an unsportsmanlike penalty for his celebration after a quarterback sneak for a touchdown but that’s ok.

Oh yeah that Steve Smith dude? He’s baaaaaaack! Steve Smith caught eight passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. Cam Newton also made use of the tight ends as Greg Olsen caught four passes for 78 yards and Jeremy Shockey caught three for 51 yards. Second year wideout Brandon LaFell also had a nice game with one really nice catch among his four receptions for 70 yards.

The bad news for the Carolina Panthers other than actually losing the game was the injury to middle linebacker Jon Beason who may have ruptured his Achilles. We should know more about Beason’s injury on Monday.

Kevin Kolb also had a nice debut with his new team, the Arizona Cardinals. Kolb completed 18 of 27 passes for 309 yards and two scores. Wideout Early Doucet was the star receiver for the Cardinals with three receptions for 105 yards including a 70 yard touchdown. Run blocking former Panther tight end Jeff King caught a 48 yard touchdown pass which must have thrilled him beyond measure. Rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson looked shaky on defense at times but had a long punt return for a touchdown for the Cardinals.

The Panthers lost Cam Newton’s NFL debut to the Cardinals due to poor line play on both sides of the ball. Beanie Wells had 90 yards rushing against the Panthers in a solid day. The defensive tackles need to improve but they will. The Panthers offensive line allowed Cam Newton to be sacked four times and didn’t run block overly well either.

The Panthers won the time of possession battle by over five minutes but had 10 penalties for 74 yards and that hurt the team. The defensive backs actually played better than I expected and held Larry Fitzgerald to three catches for 74 yards.

We will have a good idea about how good the Carolina Panthers are when they play the Packers next week. I am so impressed with Cam Newton’s first start that I feel much better about the team than I did at this time yesterday.