With two weeks under the belt, the 2011 NFL season has looked more like a 7 on 7 two hand touch game. That’s not to take away from the great drama that has taken place on the gridiron especially in prime time, but the offensive explosion is just flat out crazy at this point. Tom Brady is on pace for a 7,500 yard season, Cam Newton (CAM NEWTON!) is on pace for just over a 6,800 yard season. Obviously both will come back down to earth, Brady maybe not as quickly, but still we are in store for a memorable and a very unpredictable season. Who would have thunk that the Bills would be 2-0? The Chiefs would have been this unlucky/bad and that the Lions would have lived up to the hype? I’m going to do my best to predict this weeks games.

Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:05 pm

The battle of the two expansion teams in 96′ comes full circle as both franchises will be starting rookie QBs. Jaguars QB Blane Gabbert will be making his first NFL start. He saw some action last week in the 4th quarter against the Jets in what was a blowout, so obviously we didn’t get to see what Gabbert had to offer. After a full week of preparation he will be ready to go. This really should be his third start, beginning the season with Luke McCown behind center. The safety valve that is known as Maurice Jones Drew will be used often in the Jags attack, but don’t be surprised to see Gabbert air the ball out early. The Panthers have given up the 7th most yards through the air this season.

Cam Newton gets his chance to try and go for a third consecutive 400 yard game and he might come close. It might be only a small sample, but the Jags have been very tough against the run so far (5th in the NFL) and average against the pass. Carolina has shown that they are obviously not afraid of airing it out and I expect them to do just that early and often. This game will be a fun shootout that will have fantasy football owners buzzing.

I’m taking Carolina 35-27, we have seen that Cam Newton can be a productive passer in the league and that question mark lingers above Gabbert. The Panthers may go down early, but Newton will be able to bail them out.

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings 1:05 PM

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