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February 3, 2004
Resolving to Return
Panthers feel they have foundation to avoid becoming flashes in the pan
By Joe Menzer | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON
The Carolina Panthers learned this valuable lesson at Super Bowl XXXVIII: losers get shoved out of the way very quickly.
Although some veteran Panthers who had experienced losing previous Super Bowls warned of this cruel reality before the fact, it didn't sink in until moments after Adam Vinatieri secured the New England Patriots' 32-29 victory with a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left Sunday.
One minute, the Panthers were tied 29-29 and looking at probable overtime. Having won four of five overtime games earlier in the season, including an epic double-overtime triumph at St. Louis in an NFC divisional playoff just three weeks before, the Panthers were loose and confident. They had the momentum; they were moving toward what they perceived as a date with destiny.
Then John Kasay, the Panthers' place-kicker, inexplicably booted a kickoff out of bounds. The Panthers' momentum sailed out of sight with Kasay's unfortunate kick.
In what seemed like the next instant, the Panthers were being moved off the field at Reliant Stadium and away from the Patriots' growing championship celebration. Super Bowl officials moved quickly to rope off the large stage where the Patriots romped and raved about how great it felt to win their second NFL championship in three years.
Quarterback Jake Delhomme of the Panthers lingered nearby longer than most of his teammates. He was hurting, but he forced himself to watch his counterpart with the Patriots, Tom Brady, hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy.
Delhomme already was thinking ahead to next year.
"I just wanted to watch the celebration and let it hurt even more," Delhomme said. "You know, when there are days this off-season when a lot of guys might be wanting to be whining and complaining, we're going to want to keep working hard to try to come back here and be on the other side of that rope."
The Panthers lost professional football's biggest game on Sunday, but they hope not to be forgotten like so many past Super Bowl losers.
The Panthers are determined to become the next Patriots - and not the 1994 San Diego Chargers or the 1998 Atlanta Falcons. Those teams were 1-year wonders that disappeared off the Super Bowl radar screen after capping quick turnarounds with losing performances on Super Sunday.
Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney are in agreement that they have built this team for the long haul, and the facts seem to back them up.
They have been smart about choosing their draft picks, although some of this season's biggest stars - linebacker Dan Morgan, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and wide receiver Steve Smith, to name three - actually were plucked from the college draft during the personnel reign of George Seifert, the former head coach who was fired after the team went 1-15 in the 2001 season.
The Panthers have been smart about locking up key players, such as Jenkins and the entire defensive line.
But now comes the hard part. The Panthers played this season like it was magic caught in a bottle. Now management faces a shortened off-season in which improvement will be not only expected but demanded by a likely insatiable fan base.
Smith and Delhomme are sure to land lucrative, multi-year contract extensions. And the sooner the better, so that neither situation has a chance to become a distraction and tug at the winning chemistry that most teams find is so fragile from season to season.
Fox deserves an extension and a raise, too. So does Hurney.
But whatever they get, they'll have to earn it.
In addition to taking care of Smith and Delhomme - and not necessarily in that order - the coach-GM tandem must decide if Kasay, who is set to become a free agent, has enough left to warrant a new contract. In this decision, they must be careful to weigh his season as a whole and not judge him on one horrible game against Philadelphia and one inexplicable kickoff that may have cost them the Super Bowl. They also must determine if there is another place-kicker out there who is better.
They must decide the fate of wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, another relic from the Panthers' past. Muhammad played perhaps the best football of his career over the final eight weeks of the season, but he's set to count $6.5 million on the team's salary cap next season, and that is simply too much. He'll likely be asked to return, but only if he accepts a pay cut - something he may be unwilling to do.
If Muhammad goes, the Panthers' run game may be affected as much as the passing game. Muhammad is one of the best blockers in the league at his position.
There are other critical decisions to be made before a return trip to a Super Bowl can be counted on.
Does Delhomme's passing toward the end of the season warrant opening up the offensive game plan more from the start next season? Will running back Stephen Davis hold up for another season or two? Or is it already time to start handing the ball off more to DeShaun Foster, the younger back who took his game up about five notches in the playoffs? And what about the defensive backs? Are they as good as they were in the NFC championship game at Philadelphia, or as bad as they were in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Patriots?
Other factors that the Panthers likely will be unable to control - such as the general health of No. 7 (Michael Vick)of the Atlanta Falcons, who reside in the same NFC South division - also will figure a return to the Super Bowl in the immediate or at least foreseeable future.
But at least now Delhomme and his teammates know the Super ropes. And next time, when and if there is one, they should be even more prepared to finish up on the other side.
• Joe Menzer can be reached at jmenzer@wsjournal.com