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February 02, 2004
DELHOMME DELIVERS: Quarterback roars back after bad start
By John Dell | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON - Jake Delhomme got his money's worth from his first Super Bowl. He was good and bad on the big stage, and he was nearly good enough in the second half to rally the Carolina Panthers to a victory.
Instead, he stared into space during those last few seconds, maybe wondering "What if?"
What if the Panthers could have mixed it up more in the first half instead of getting stonewalled by a fired up Patriots defense?
What if the Panthers' defense, which looked thoroughly spent in the fourth quarter, could have held the Patriots just one more time?
And finally, what if Delhomme had converted on two two-point conversion attempts in the fourth quarter.
"You have a great season, and it's hard to say it's a great season right now," Delhomme said. "I don't know, it's just the worst feeling in the world.
"It's an athletic feeling, and it's the worst."
Delhomme failed to move the Panthers at all on their first seven possessions but finally broke through late in the half with a touchdown pass to Steve Smith. He also opened up the offense in the second half, mostly because the Panthers had no choice.
Delhomme ended up 16 for 33 passing for 323 yards, with three second-half touchdown passes. His biggest touchdown pass came with 1:12 left, when he found a cutting Ricky Proehl for a 12-yard completion that helped the Panthers tie the game at 29 after John Kasay's extra point. The 323-yard total was Delhomme's second-highest this season, behind a 362-yard game in a loss to Tennessee.
In the end, it was quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots who had enough time to generate the yardage needed for a winning field goal.
"It was frustrating that we didn't get another chance," said Delhomme, who in four games directed last-minute drives to win games. "That was the tough part. We found a rhythm throwing the ball, the guys were blocking great, receivers were making unbelievable catches, and it's disappointing we didn't get a chance to go back out and win it."
Without a running game - the Patriots held Stephen Davis to 49 yards on 13 carries - the Panthers turned to Delhomme to find other ways to move the ball.
Things started clicking in the fourth quarter, after the Panthers fell behind 21-10.
DeShaun Foster scored on a 33-yard run on his first carry of the game, pulling the Panthers to 21-16, but Delhomme failed on the two-point conversion try. Delhomme later made perhaps his best throw of the game when he found a wide-open Muhsin Muham-mad for an 85-yard touchdown pass.
The delirious Panthers had a 22-21 lead with 6:53 left and again decided to go for two, but Delhomme couldn't convert.
Delhomme's play was far different than in the first half, where he was sacked three times and never got into much of a flow.
"We didn't play that well, and they played pretty well in the first half," said Delhomme, whose team trailed 14-10 at halftime. "We just had some trouble throwing it and had some trouble running it. But that happens sometimes with us. We don't deviate that much from our plan, but we had to a little bit in the fourth quarter when we went down by 11."
Delhomme looked pretty comfortable opening up the offense, and it nearly worked.
After his third touchdown pass to Proehl helped the Panthers tie at 29, Kasay said he was convinced that there would be overtime.
When asked what he was thinking after New England got the ball at its 40 with 1:08 to play, Delhomme said:
"The defense would stop them, we'd go into overtime, and we'd win the game. There was no doubt in my mind. It wasn't like 'I can't believe it,' it was more like 'We are going to stop them and go to overtime.' There was no doubt."
Delhomme refused to blame Super Bowl jitters for his poor play in the first half.
"It felt like we were playing in just another game," he said. "You just have to stay in control and do what you've done all season long. I'll be honest with you, once you got on the field and got that first hit, it was just another game."
• John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com