Jake Delhomme’s stat line vs. Arizona Cardinals: 17-34, 205 yards, one touchdown, 5 interceptions. Fast forward eight months and Jake’s stat line before getting pulled in the 3rd quarter of the season opener versus the Philadelphia Eagles was 7-14, 73 yards, 0 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and a 14.7 quarterback rating. Jake signed a five-year contract extension worth potentially $42.5 million, but has $20 million in guaranteed money. People all off season questioned the extension, but many people said that Jake got the going money of a starting quarterback. Jake has done a lot of great things for this team, such as winning 12 games last season. The problem is fans have a short memory. NFL in some people’s eyes is short for Not For Long. I have to think that if Jake has another game or two like his last two, he won’t be the starter for the Panthers much longer.
Before the opener today, I was talking to some friends and many felt the same way I did: within the first few possessions, we will know if the preseason was a fluke or if you can now hit the panic button. Panther fans can now hit the panic button. I am not putting all of this on Jake’s shoulders, as the special teams and offensive line did not live up to their responsibilities. Julius Pepper’s made a comment in the preseason that the preseason is just a warm-up and it means nothing. I am thinking that it did show us some things and not much, if anything, was good. We know this team has some issues, but where do you begin to look? Do you bring in Jeff Garcia for a try out?? Why not put some pressure on Jake to get better. McCown just went down grabbing his knee, so why not give Jeff a call? Do you look for another defensive tackle to find a better replacement for Kemo? The Eagles scored so many points on defense and special teams, and turnovers gave them so many short fields, I am not sure we were really able to see what the Panthers have there.
Things do not get any easier next week. The Panthers go down to Atlanta for an import division game and follow that up with a trip to Dallas for a Monday night encounter. There is a very real possibility that the next time this team takes the field at Bank of America Stadium October 11th versus the Washington Redskins, after their bye week, they are 0-3. Both Atlanta and Dallas opened up with impressive wins in week one. I hope this team gets thing corrected, but I am not encouraged by what I saw today.