Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. (Photo : Reuters)
The Houston Texans will try and come back from a disappointing 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in their opener on Sunday while the Carolina Panthers will ride the momentum of their 20-9 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars as the two teams clash at the Bank of America Stadium for an NFL 2015 Week 2 matchup.
Texans starting quarterback Brian Hoyer had an awful game which led head coach Bill O'Brien to replace him with his offseason competitor Ryan Mallett in the final six minutes of the game against the Chiefs, as per Heavy.
It appears that O'Brien is going to use Mallett as his starter in this match versus Carolina but there were no confirmations as of yet.
J.J. Watt excellently anchored Houston's defense with nine solo tackles and two sacks to extend his sacking run to six games.
Meanwhile, Ron Rivera's boys did not have a great game as well despite the lopsided score, as reported by CBS Sports.
Cam Newton was held down to 18-of-31 for only 175 yards throughout the game. The loss of wideout Kelvin Benjamin seems to be taking its toll on the Panthers offense and so veteran Jerricho Cotchery, Ted Ginn Jr., and Jonathan Stewart should fill in the slack.
The Panthers' defense was impressive in their opener, holding down Blake Bortles and the Jaguars to a mere nine points. It remains to be seen if they can replicate that against Hoyer or Mallett.
Prediction: Panthers win, 28-17
Houston Texans starting lineup
Offense: Hoyer (QB), Blue (RB), Prosch (FB), Hopkins (WR1), Shorts (WR2), Graham (TE), Brown (LT), Su'a-Filo (LG), Jones (C), Brooks (RG), Newton (RT)
Defense: Watt (DE), Wilfork (NT), Crick (DE), Mercilus (OLB), Cushing (ILB), McKinney (ILB), Clowney (OLB), Jackson (CB1), Joseph (CB2), Hal (SS), Moore (FS)
Carolina Panthers starting lineup
Offense: Newton (QB), Stewart (RB), Tolbert (FB), Cotchery (WR1), Ginn (WR2), Olsen (TE), Oher (LT), Norwell (LG), Kalil (C), Turner (RG), Remmers (RT)
Defense: Johnson (DE), Short (DT), Cole (DT), Ealy (DE), Klein (OLB), Mayo (MLB), Davis (OLB), Norman (CB1), Tillman (CB2), Harper (SS), Boston (FS)
