Pro. Jake Delhomme

[NewsCopy]

Panthers' last play gives fans last laugh


If anybody ever wants to remake Horse Feathers, the Carolina Panthers demonstrated how the football sequence should be filmed.

On the last play of Sunday's game against the Eagles, the Panthers put on the funniest bit of running since Harpo Marx lugged the ball for Huxley College in the Marx Brothers' 1932 film.

With 18 seconds remaining and the Eagles ahead, 25-16, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme lined up in shotgun formation at Carolina's 31.

Then the fun began.

Delhomme threw to running back Nick Goings, who faked a handoff as he ran across the field right to left, then lateraled back to Delhomme at the 41.

Delhomme threw across the field to wide receiver Steve Smith, who flipped the ball back to Delhomme, who threw it across the field to right tackle Jordan Gross.

With me so far?

The rest of the story

By Michael D. Schaffer
Inquirer Staff Writer

[Turbine]

With less than two minutes to go Jake Delhomme does it again in the end, setting up his kicker for the game winner with 8 seconds left.

Panthers win NFC South

[RaisingCajun08]

Once again Jake does not have numbers that jump out at you. You probably would not want Jake on your fantasy team because of his lack of high numbers. BUT he does that the one stat that really matters WINS!

Simply Awesome !!

[NewsCopy]

It's not the recommended recipe for winning, but Jake Delhomme has evolved as the master chef of fourth-quarter comebacks in the NFL this season.

Hand the Carolina Panthers quarterback a deficit after three quarters, and he'll cook up another win. Fourth-quarter revival No. 6 came Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, propelling the Panthers (9-5) back into the playoffs for the first time since 1996 as NFC South Division champions.

What is it with this guy who plays at his best in the most desperate of times? A light goes on with Delhomme when it appears the lights are about to go out on his team.

"He's really flourished," coach John Fox says of Delhomme's fourth-quarter magic.

Deadeye Delhomme has been pure David Copperfield since he came off the bench in the second half of the season opener and engineered the biggest comeback in team history in a 24-23 victory against Jacksonville.

His latest act came Sunday. The Panthers came into the fourth quarter staring at a 14-10 deficit and their fourth consecutive loss, but Delhomme came to the rescue completing 11 of 15 passes for 125 yards. He authored a nine-play, 93-yard drive that gave Carolina a 17-14 lead on his 31-yard touchdown pass to DeShaun Foster.

The rest of the story

By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY

[NewsCopy]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme is a long way away from being compared to Joe Montana, Dan Marino or Brett Favre when it comes to fourth-quarter comebacks.

But with the game on the line, Delhomme has proven this season he can hold his own. He’s brought the Panthers (9-5) back six times this season, showing his teammates he won’t crumble with the game on the line.

“When he walks into that huddle, because we’ve had success in that situation, they expect it,” coach John Fox said. “I think they do have a high belief when they get in that situation.

“It’s hard to be 100 percent successful throughout a season, but we’ve definitely had our share, and Jake has been at the controls when it has happened and we have been fortunate.”

The latest comeback was Sunday, when Delhomme started the fourth quarter facing a 14-10 deficit to the lowly Arizona Cardinals.

But he put the Panthers up 17-14 with a nine-play, 93-yard drive capped by his 31-yard touchdown pass to DeShaun Foster.

Arizona tied the game with 1:15 left, then Delhomme went to work on a nine-play, 49-yard drive — with five passes for 43 yards to Steve Smith — to set up John Kasay’s 49-yard field goal with four seconds left. The 20-17 victory snapped Carolina’s three-game losing streak, clinched the NFC South title and sent the Panthers back to the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

“In the fourth quarter, if we are behind, we just know we need to go out there and make something happen,” said Delhomme, who completed 11-of-15 passes for 125 yards in the final quarter against Arizona.

The rest of the story

[Turbine]

His coaches called off the dogs early but at one point Jake completed his first 20 passes albeit one was to the other team. 19 of 20 aint bad, he peaked at 21 of 22.

I still think runs should count for passes positve yardage=complete etc.... If they did, at one point he would have been 23 of 24

Officially he ended 29 of 35 with 2 TD'sand one int for a QB rating of 109.23

I have him with two more attempts going 1-1 on those.

[Turbine]

He also goes over 3000 yards on the season. Nice bench mark.

[CajunFanatic91]

And lets not forget this this team was the pits before him. They would've been this year to if he hadn't come in for the injured Rodney Peete on opening day against Jacksonville to rally 'em to an improbable 4th quarter comeback. Being a Panthers and Cajuns fan all good news. Panthers should make it three in a row against NYG next week.

By the way anybody catch the Saints game? Ouch!

[NewsCopy]

Terry Bradshaw had it. So did Bert Jones, Bobby Hebert, Bubby Brister and Stan Humphries.

Now you can add Jake Delhomme to that list of NFL quarterbacks with it, whatever it is.

"I can't put a finger on it," Delhomme said. "But there's something about the bayou quarterbacks – a charisma, a swagger ... something."

The bayou quarterbacks are all from Louisiana and stayed home to play their college ball there. Bradshaw and Humphries are from Shreveport. Bradshaw played at Louisiana Tech and Humphries at Northeast Louisiana. Brister is from Alexandria and also played at Northeast Louisiana.

Jones is from Ruston and played at LSU, and Hebert is from Galliano and played at Northwestern State. Delhomme is from Lafayette and played at Southwestern Louisiana.

The elusive "it" they all seem to have is a free spirit on the football field that allows them to wink at adversity and grin at pressure. Football isn't supposed to be life and death. It's supposed to be fun. The bayou quarterbacks all seem to have fun out there. They play without fear.

"We're proud people," Delhomme said. "You think in the tough times that you're going to get it done. It's a belief that we all have deep down inside. It doesn't have to be talked about or proclaimed. It's just a quiet confidence we all have that we can get it done."

No one has gotten it done like Delhomme in 2003. In his first season as an NFL starter, he has steered the Panthers to a 10-5 record and an NFC South title. No quarterback in the NFL has delivered in more pressure-packed situations than Delhomme has in 2003.

Delhomme has manufactured game-winning scoring drives in the final 70 seconds of four games. He has won three other games in overtime. That's seven victories essentially on his team's final possession.

Delhomme threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with 16 seconds left to defeat Jacksonville and tossed a 5-yard pass to Steve Smith with 66 seconds left to topple Tampa Bay.

Delhomme marched the Panthers 71 yards in seven plays for a 3-yard touchdown run by Stephen Davis with 69 seconds left to defeat Washington. Last week he moved the Panthers 49 yards in nine plays for John Kasay's 49-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to beat Arizona.

Bradshaw was the first overall pick of his NFL draft (1970) and Jones the second overall pick of his (1973). But Brister was a third-round pick and Humphries a sixth-rounder. Neither Hebert nor Delhomme was drafted.

Bradshaw won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers and an NFL MVP award in 1978. Jones was the league MVP with the Baltimore Colts in 1976. Humphries took the San Diego Chargers to their only Super Bowl in 1995, and Brister quarterbacked the Steelers to the playoffs in the late 1980s.

Hebert took the Michigan Panthers to the inaugural USFL title as a rookie in 1983 and also steered the New Orleans Saints to the only two 12-win seasons in franchise history (1987, 1992).

"They're all tough guys," Delhomme said.

Patrick Ramsey is from Ruston and played his college ball at Tulane. He's now the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins. One day soon he will join that list of accomplished bayou quarterbacks.

But the best bayou quarterback of them all isn't even from Louisiana. Brett Favre is from Kiln, Miss., which is about 30 miles up the road from New Orleans, just across the Louisiana state line.

"Favre is closer to me [geographically] than Bradshaw and that crew," Delhomme said. "I wish the Louisiana border went just a little further so we could call him one of ours. He's the epitome of what a quarterback should be – someone who is going to fight for his team, do anything for his team."

When the game is on the line, Favre wants the ball in his hands. So does Delhomme. All the bayou quarterbacks do. That's when football is fun.

The source of the story

Rick Gosselin
Inside The NFL

E-mail rgosselin@dallasnews.com

[Rebel02]

Hey Turbine, you think you could post the whole story. I clicked the link to read the rest of it, but you have to register with the newspaper you have linked. And well dangit, I'm tired of having to register to each and every website. Thanks!!!!