Cam Newton produces touchdowns on first two plays back with Carolina Panthers

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It didn’t take long for Cam Newton to make an impact in his return to the Carolina Panthers.

The 32-year-old quarterback produced touchdowns on his first two plays Sunday to propel Carolina to a 34-10 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.

Newton brought much-needed energy to a Panthers team (5-5) that had lost five of its past six games and faced long odds against the Cardinals, who entered the day with an NFL-best 8-1 record.

“No disrespect to them,” Newton said. “But I’m just floating at an all-time high frequency. It’s almost scary.”

It was almost scary what Newton did on the first two of his eight plays backing up P.J. Walker, who replaced the injured Sam Darnold.

He scored on a 2-yard run around the right side less than four minutes into the game, lunging through linebacker Isaiah Simmons and into the end zone. He followed with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson on his second play, which the two had worked on for the first time Friday.

“We worked on that a couple of times to get the timing of it down,” Anderson said. “We knew it was going to be there.”

Newton finished with 8 yards passing and 14 yards rushing. Those aren’t the numbers that made him the NFL MVP in 2015, when he helped Carolina to an NFL-best 15-1 season and a trip to the Super Bowl.

But they were a good beginning considering Newton spent only three days on the playbook.

His two scoring plays came in the same stadium where Newton made his NFL debut in 2011 after Carolina drafted him first overall out of Auburn. It also is where Newton played his last game in college, helping the Tigers win the national title with an undefeated season.

Newton said he thought about that on Sunday morning when he was reading his daily devotional.

“I was reading about Moses, and God spoke to Moses in the desert,” Newton said. “And where are we at?”

Newton came in for Walker to score the first touchdown on second-and-goal as he took the snap from the shotgun and…