Rookie Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes to help the Carolina Panthers beat the newly crowned AFC South champion Houston Texans, 28-13, at Reliant Stadium.

Newton completed 13-of-23 passes for 149 yards and added 55 rushing yards for Carolina (5-9), which has won three of its last four games.

It was a tale of two halves for Newton in last Sunday's tough 31-23 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons, as the No. 1 pick in this past April's draft completed nine of his 14 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns through the first 30 minutes but threw two costly interceptions in the second half. Newton did not rush for a touchdown for only the fourth time this season as well after setting a quarterback record with his 13th score on the ground two weeks ago.

Newton (3,573 passing yards, 15 TD, 16 INT) is tied for third in the league with 16 interceptions and had his fourth multi-pick game of the season last week. Still, the Panthers are averaging 399 yards per game thanks to the former Heisman Trophy winner, who has 28 total touchdowns in 2011, an NFL record by a rookie.

For more on Newton and his matchup with the Texans, check out Panthers blog, Cat Scratch Reader, and our Texans blog, Battle Red Blog.