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February 02, 2004
Painful Day, Bright Future
By Joe Menzer | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON - The Carolina Panthers fell short in last night's bid to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. But Coach John Fox was sure to tell his players that, in his mind, the epic 32-29 loss to the New England Patriots did not in any way taint what was a very special season for the Panthers.
The Panthers won 14 of 20 games, winning the NFC South division title and their first NFC Championship game along the way. They had won six games in a row, including three playoff games, before last night's heart-breaking defeat on a 41-yard field goal by New England's Adam Vinatieri with four seconds remaining.
Fox said he gave his team the same basic message in the locker room after the game that he had delivered to them before the game.
"Basically, I told them I was very, very proud of them," Fox said. "I told them before this game that I was very proud of them no matter what happened. I reiterated that after the fact. We fought very hard; we just came up a little short.
"We have a lot to build on."
Fox took heart in the fact that most of the big plays made by Panthers in last night's game were made by Panthers who should be playing for the team for a long time.
Quarterback Jake Delhomme shook off a dismal start to complete 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 113.6 was higher even than his counterpart with the Patriots, Tom Brady, who had a quarterback rating of 100.5 but walked away with the Pete Rozelle trophy as the Super Bowl's most valuable player.
Delhomme, who turned 29 less than a month ago, thus completed his first season as an NFL starter by playing for the league championship.
One of Delhomme's three touchdown passes was a 39-yarder to wide receiver Steve Smith, another young star who is not yet 25. Both Delhomme and Smith likely are in line for lucrative, long-term contract extensions this off-season.
The Panthers' longest run of the game - a 33-yard dash for a touchdown - was logged by DeShaun Foster, who essentially was completing his first NFL season after missing all of last year. Foster seemed to improve with each game in the postseason, showing no ill effects from the knee injury that shelved him all of last year.
"The way we came back in this game just shows our heart and our character as a team," said Foster, who has the same birthday as Delhomme and turned 24 last Jan. 10. "We just stayed out there and kept playing our hardest because we wanted to win. We win together and we lose together as a team, but this one is tough.
"Still, getting this far in the postseason gives us motivation going into next year.
"We accomplished a lot."
The Panthers also have a number of good young players on defense, even though some of them - cornerback Ricky Manning Jr., in particular - did not play well last night. Two of the linebackers who did, Dan Morgan and Will Witherspoon, are young and haven't played together for a full season yet. Morgan led the Panthers with 18 tackles last night, and Witherspoon had 13.
Cornerback Ty Law of the Patriots took notice.
"We give those guys a lot of respect and a lot of credit," Law said. "They are one hell of a football team. They gave us all they've got.
"They are a great football team."
Delhomme said that he understands that the Panthers made huge strides in the right direction this season. It's just that last night he found it difficult to take solace in that fact.
"You play all year and have a great season ... but it's hard to say that it's a great season right now when you just feel, well, like it's just the worst feeling in the world. You can't explain it," Delhomme said.
Fox said he was trying to look at it a little more optimistically, despite the loss.
"We definitely have a lot to build on. I don't think many people expected us to get this far this year. We have a young football team that is going to be around for a while," Fox said.
"I'm not big on predictions. But I like our football team. We have some youth, and we have a good core (of young players)."