Pro. Jake Delhomme

[UL_Cajuns]

Geaux Jake beat the ~~~~ out of the saints, we need a new coach!!!!!! haha

[NewsCopy]

NEW ORLEANS — Jake Delhomme knows a thing or two about overcoming long odds.

His NFL career is proof of that.

It could be a tall order for the Carolina Panthers to come all the way back from a 1-7 start one season after reaching the Super Bowl as NFC champions, but Delhomme is a good choice to lead that longshot rally.

The former Teurlings Catholic and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun star threw for 294 yards and a touchdown to lead the Panthers to a 32-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints (4-8) on Sunday in the Superdome as Carolina improved to a suddenly-respectable 5-7.

The Panthers are back in the playoff hunt in the mediocre NFC of 2004.

“We’re starting to find ourselves,” Delhomme said. “We dug ourselves a pretty nice hole, there’s no doubt about that.

“People talk about our schedule and our injuries, but the toughest thing is that we didn’t have an identity. We came close to making plays (in the early losses). We just kept on working.

“This team has a lot of character. Guys don’t quit. They study. They prepare.”

Delhomme’s first season with the Panthers resulted in a surge to the Super Bowl,including a pair of emotional wins over his former Saints teammates, but he is getting further removed from that emotional tie.

“This is my second year away from the team now,” Delhomme said. “It’s nice to have a lot of family be able to come to the game, but it’s different now. Next year, I’ll really be able to enjoy it.”

Sunday was an enjoyable day for the Panthers, who jumped on top 23-0 before the Saints could score and profited from a team-record six field goals by John Kasay and a Panthers-record 36 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown by Nick Goings.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

12-24-1999

Jake Delhomme, playing in his first National Football League game, threw 278 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 31-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Jake and The Saints defeated a Dallas team that desperately needed a win to get into the playoffs. Only squeaking through on the last week of the season when Green Bay defeated Arizona 49-24

[gridiron]

Why shold they he finds them when they are laying on the ground

[Turbine]

24 Passes
19 Completions
4 Touchdowns
0 Interceptions

143.4 Quarterback rating ranks in the top 98 percentile of games ever played.

[Turbine]

In my mind, this video LINK is why Jakes receivers never quit.

[NewsCopy]

Delhomme's QB rating rockets to his career best

TAMPA, Fla. - Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme bounced back from a tough loss at Atlanta a week ago with one of the best games of his career in Sunday's 37-20 blowout of Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium.

Delhomme's numbers were stunningly good: 19 completions in 24 attempts, four of them for touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 143.4, his career high. It continued a trend; he has played dramatically better over his team's past nine games than in its first six.

Those first half-dozen ended with his passer rating at 67.1. In the eight before Sunday, his rating was 97.8.

"He just continues to progress with each and every game," said Carolina coach John Fox.

Fullback Brad Hoover added, "He's been doing it consistently, and today he came out and played well again."

Delhomme's superb Sunday matinee performance came against one of the league's best defenses.

"I felt good out there today," he said. "But when you're having great protection and your guys are really catching the ball, your confidence is really going. I felt good in our plan. ... It did feel good out there today."

`Moose' adds to record collection

Receiver Muhsin Muhammad's two first-quarter touchdown receptions gained him another place in the Carolina record book. He has 14 scoring catches this season, a team record.

Muhammad entered the game tied for first with Patrick Jeffers and Wesley Walls, each of whom had 12 in 1999.

There's more; he had 115 receiving yards Sunday to push his season total to 1,310, also a team record. Muhammad has the three highest totals in team history, since he had 1,253 yards in 1999 and 1,183 in 2000.

"I had no idea how close I was to those records," Muhammad said. "After you finish the season and look back, you realize that you accomplished a lot of things."

Touchdown from seat of his pants

Panthers tight end Mike Seidman's fourth-quarter touchdown reception came with him sitting on the ground in the back of the end zone."Really, it was sit down, or stop, not actually sit down," said a grinning Delhomme. "It was a fake, and he came and the back overran it and he stopped. I had perfect vision; I saw him fall, and there was no one there. I just tried to throw it to him, and he did a good job of concentrating and catching it."

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[Turbine]

Includes AFC & NFC dos not include QB's who have thrown less than 100 passes.

14th: Yards per attempt 7.41
(15 QB's have YPA in the 7 yard range)

12th: QB Rating 88
(around 98 for the second half of the year)

8th:
Passing Yards 3579 (Arron Brooks 7th 15 yards apart)

8th: Completions
(Only 2 ranked above have thrown fewer passes)

7th: Pass Attemtps

5th: Touchdowns 27
(Tied for 5th)

[NewsCopy]

The last time Carolina faced a must-win finale versus Saints, Delhomme was on other side

CHARLOTTE — The last time Jake Delhomme played in a season finale with as much at stake for the Carolina Panthers as Sunday’s showdown against the New Orleans Saints was 1999 in Charlotte.

Only Delhomme started for the Saints, not the Panthers.

“I got the dog beat out of me by Kevin Greene,” Delhomme recalled Wednesday of the former Carolina outside linebacker.

Delhomme was making his second career start in the final game for then-Saints coach Mike Ditka. New Orleans, at 3-12, had nothing to play for but pride.

Carolina had a chance to make the playoffs if it defeated the Saints; the New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys; and Green Bay beat the Arizona Cardinals.

And, oh, by the way, the Panthers had to beat New Orleans by 18 more points than the Packers beat the Cardinals.

It turned into a wild day in which the Panthers spent a lot of time watching the scoreboard to see what Green Bay was doing several thousand miles away.

Former Carolina fullback William Floyd said it was the first time he had played a game against a team that wasn’t in the same stadium. Carolina tight end Kris Mangum said he had never been in a game “when you’re up 30 or 40 points and doing the onside kick.”

“I was more disappointed Green Bay kept scoring so (Carolina quarterback Steve) Beuerlein had to keep throwing touchdown passes,” recalled Delhomme, who gave the Panthers a few extra scoring opportunities with four interceptions.

The Panthers did their part by beating the Saints 45-13, running up the score at every opportunity.

But it wasn’t good enough because Green Bay defeated Arizona 49-24 — leaving Carolina 11 points short — and Dallas defeated the Giants later that day.

Sunday’s season finale against the Saints will not be quite as complicated. The winner between these 7-8 teams will win the NFC’s final wild-card spot if Seattle defeats Arizona or St. Louis loses to the New York Jets.

The Panthers also can get in if they beat the Saints and Minnesota (8-7) loses at Washington.

Delhomme hopes to be more effective Sunday than he was five years ago.

“He played terrible,” Carolina safety Mike Minter said. “That’s not to be talking bad about the guy. It was great for us. That’s all that matters. He was young. They threw him up in there, and we reaped some benefits from that.”

Delhomme completed 26-of-43 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a team-high 78 yards and a touchdown.

“It seems not long ago, but it seems like ages ago,” he said.

Delhomme refused to call that the worst game of his pro career despite the interceptions. If anything, he was thankful he got a chance to showcase his talents.

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Reach Newton at (803) 802-2091 or sportsscribe01@aol.com

[NewsCopy]

METAIRIE -- Aaron Brooks or Jake Delhomme? The great debate resurfaces as those quarterbacks lead their teams' fight for a playoff berth in the New Orleans Saints-Carolina Panthers game on Sunday in Charlotte.

Two years and three days ago, the Panthers beat the Saints, 10-6, in the regular-season finale in the Superdome, denying New Orleans a playoff spot as the Saints offense struggled behind an injured Brooks amid fans chants of "We want Jake" that fell on deaf ears.

Saints coach Jim Haslett was faced with a decision: Brooks or Delhomme? He chose Brooks and a few months later, Delhomme, a native of Breaux Bridge who played at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, signed with the Panthers as a free agent.

A year later, Delhomme and Carolina were in the Super Bowl, and now 11 months after that, Brooks and the Saints meet Delhomme and the Panthers with both having designs on one playoff spot.

"You can find irony in just about anything in life. It's just a matter of circumstance," Saints wide receiver Jerome Pathon said. "I don't think by any means it's a way of determining who's the better quarterback."

While the Panthers are seeking a chance to defend their NFC Championship, the Saints are seeking to end a three-year playoff drought that began when Brooks won the starter's job over Delhomme and Jeff Blake during the 2001 training camp. However, Brooks did lead New Orleans to its only playoff victory in 2000 after Blake was injured late in the season. Brooks dismissed the premise of the debate.

"There is no comparison to Jake and I," he said. "Jake had his opportunity for numerous years here in New Orleans and couldn't capitalize on it. I came and got the job, and he had to move on. He's done a great job where he's at. I don't buy into that because there is no comparison."

Delhomme took exception to Saints fans chanting for him while Brooks was trying to get New Orleans past Carolina and into the playoffs.

"I don't necessarily agree with that; when you're trying to win and you're playing in front of your home crowd, it seems like you'd have the fans on your side," he said.

"Coming over here to Carolina the following year and talking to those guys about that game, that got them pumped up when things like that happened."

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By LES EAST
Special to The Advocate