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January 04, 2004
Delhomme, Davis shine as Panthers win 29-10
Carolina dominates Dallas, will play at St. Louis next Saturday afternoon
By Joe Menzer | JOURNAL REPORTER
For the second time in as many NFC playoff appearances at Ericsson Stadium, the Carolina Panthers weren't very hospitable to the Dallas Cowboys.
Though the playoff games came seven years apart, the result last night was as dramatic as it was in January of 1997 and decidedly more one-sided as the Panthers won convincingly 29-10 in front of a crowd of 72,324.
The victory enabled the Panthers to move on to a NFC divisional playoff meeting with the St. Louis Rams on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in St. Louis, with the winner of that game playing in the NFC championship game the next week.
The Panthers took an early lead last night and built on it until they held a 26-3 advantage by early in the fourth quarter, removing all suspense about the outcome and their pending hotel reservations in St. Louis. They celebrated by returning to the field after first retiring to the locker room, taking a victory lap to bask in the adulation of their fans that remained long after the win had been assured.
Coach John Fox of the Panthers said that his team played its most complete game of the season at precisely the right time.
"In the playoffs, there is no time like now," Fox said. "I thought we played well defensively, offensively and in the kicking game. I thought that was a very well-coached football team that we beat, and I was proud of our performance in all three phases."
Strong safety Mike Minter of the Panthers said: "This is so sweet. You can't put anything on this right now. To win the first one (in the playoffs), to be at home on top of that and then to go back out there with those fans, it's just awesome. But that's just one. This team understands that it's one, two, three and then we are in the Super Bowl."
The Panthers took the first step toward that lofty goal behind the hard running of Stephen Davis and the big-play passing of quarterback Jake Delhomme. Delhomme hit wide receivers Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad for several big gains, including a 32-yard touchdown pass to Smith that gave the Panthers a 23-3 lead in the third quarter.
Davis carried the ball 26 times for 104 yards and scored on a 23-yard touchdown run that put the Panthers up 13-0 in the second quarter. John Kasay added five field goals in as many tries for the Panthers, tying an NFL playoff record.
Delhomme completed 18 of 29 passes for 273 yards, shredding the NFL's top-rated pass defense as Smith caught five passes for 135 yards and Muhammad four for 103.
"Dallas will come after you a good bit (on blitzes), so you have opportunities to go after them down the field and make some big plays," Delhomme said.
"That's what we did, and everyone made plays."
They began doing so immediately. Delhomme hit Smith on a quick out early in the first quarter, and free safety Roy Williams, a rookie with the Cowboys, was caught out of position. Smith caught the ball and turned inside, racing 70 yards up the field before cornerback Pete Hunter of the Cowboys saved a touchdown by pushing Smith down at the Dallas 1-yard line.
The Panthers were forced to settle for an 18-yard field goal by Kasay when they couldn't get in on the next three plays. But they had a 3-0 lead and confidence that they could move the ball almost at will.
It also helped that the Panthers repeatedly had excellent field position - in large part because of poor punting by Toby Gowin of the Cowboys. A 32-yard punt gave them the ball at the Dallas 41-yard line and led to a 38-yard field goal by Kasay that made the score 6-0 with 1:02 left in the first quarter. A 17-yard punt by Gowin gave the ball to Caroina at the Dallas 49 and led to a 23-yard touchdown run by Davis eight plays later on a third-and-10 play, making it 13-0 Panthers with 6:10 left in the second quarter.
The Cowboys cut the lead to 13-3 on a 37-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff with 1:12 remaining in the first half, but generally struggled to sustain drives against an inspired Carolina defense. They wouldn't score again until quarterback Quincy Carter scored on a 9-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter - long after the game was out of hand.
It was a vastly different outcome than when the Panthers lost a regular-season game at Dallas last Nov. 23, falling 24-20.
"There is no question. Statistically and on the scoreboard, it was definitely two different games," Fox said.
Though Carter's fourth-quarter touchdown run cut the Panthers' lead to 26-10, he was intercepted by defensive end Julius Peppers on the Cowboys' next possession. Peppers returned the interception 34 yards to the Dallas 11 before celebrating by jumping into the crowd in the end zone, which teammate Reggie Howard also did after the play and Smith did earlier at the other end of the stadium after his 32-yard touchdown reception against double coverage.
The Panthers earlier added another first-half Kasay field goal, this time from 19 yards, after Delhomme hit a wide-open Muhammad streaking down the sideline in front of the Dallas bench for a 57-yard gain to the Dallas 2. Muhammad fumbled at the end of the play and fought off linebacker Al Singleton of the Cowboys for the recovery.
For the second time in the half, though, the Panthers couldn't get the ball into the end zone and had to settle for another short Kasay field goal, the third of his five.
Fullback Brad Hoover agreed with Fox that the Panthers hadn't played a better all-around game all season.
"We got a team that we felt like we had let slip away from us in the regular season, and we came in and we just pounded 'em," Hoover said. "The fans were here, the atmosphere was here, and we prevailed. Everything we could have asked for happened tonight.
"But this is just one step in the road for us. Now it's time for us to get ready for St. Louis and the next step."
• Joe Menzer can be reached at jmenzer@wsjournal.com