Jake Delhomme's Return from Tommy John Surgery was a great success in the 2008 season.
He threw for 3,288 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. However, after his extremely poor performance against the Arizona Cardinals in the Divisional Playoffs where he threw five interceptions, many are saying he shouldn't be the starter of the Carolina Panthers in the 2009 season.
Jake Delhomme has a career record of 50-32 as a starter for the Carolina Panthers. Including three trips to the playoffs where he holds a 5-3 record. As a Panther he has had made two trips to the NFC Championship game and one trip to the Super Bowl. He had a career night in the 2003 Super Bowl where he threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, just losing to the Patriots 32-29.
So the question remains, where does Delhomme go from here? He hit his career low when he threw five interceptions against the Cardinals, but history shows that it can be a learning experience for Delhomme.
In the 2001-2002 playoffs, the Packers Brett Favre threw six interceptions against the St. Louis Rams while the Rams routed the Packers 45-17.
Since the 2001-2002 season Brett Favre has gone on to four pro bowls and has led the Packers to the NFC Championship game in 2007. Needless to say Brett Favre has done good for himself since that rough game against the Rams in 2002.
In the 2003-2004 season Kurt Warner fumbled six times in the regular season opener against the New York Giants. After that game the Rams pretty much dumped Kurt Warner to the curb for Marc Bulger.
The New York Giants eventually picked Warner up, but after he went 5-4, they elected to start rookie Eli Manning.
Following that season he ended up in Arizona and, well, lets see what Kurt has done since then. He struggled to take command of a bombing franchise at first, but he has since almost single-handedly (with help from Larry Fitzgerald) taken the Arizona Cardinals franchise to the NFC Championship game this season. He has been elected to the Pro Bowl for the NFC also.
Not bad for a player just dumped to the curb. Bad decision Rams and Giants.
So through that, history shows Delhomme may have hit a rough patch. But needless to say he will be the starter going into the 2009 season for the Carolina Panthers, and don't expect this trend to continue for Delhomme.
Expect the Panthers to contend for the NFC South Division next year with Delhomme piloting the Carolina Panthers offense.
7 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Paul Augustin, Jr. 5 months ago
I agree that Delhomme will be back in 2009. Everyone saw what happened when the Panthers didn't have Delhomme most of last season. I think that he is humble enough to learn from this game and allow it too motivate him next season.
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Sterling Eby 5 months ago
The bigger question would be who would the Panthers start. Josh McCown? or get a rookie? No way. Delhomme is the man. Leave him in charge! Thanks for the read and comment Paul!
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Silver Fox 5 months ago
Jake Delhomme will never lead and win the Super Bowl for the Carolina Panthers.
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Sterling Eby 5 months ago
Seeing as he as said on record "his arm is healthier than ever" Our defense is young and talented. Our running backs are young and talented and we are only gonna get better with free agency and a draft. How can you make that bold of a statement.
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C C 5 months ago
It's not Jake. There is one person that is more deserving of sitting/resigning and that is:
- Mr. Trgovac (defensive Coordinator)
How many 30 point games must we give up before someone says something. Our defense is too talented to be giving up that many points. Also, our offense is not designed to be scoring 30-40 points a game. Now granted we were the last half of the season which gives me great hope for next year, but a run 1st, pass 2nd, control the ball team, which Mr. Richardson stated he wanted his team to be like after last season in the private meeting with Fox and others, is not going to continue this trend I would tend to think.
- Also the DLine needs help.
We are aging on the four upfront. I know we keep getting torched in the 2ndary, but I tend to feel it's from the front four. You can't cover someone for 5+ seconds and expect all over the whole time. You have to put pressure on the QB which Peppers and Brayton/Other DE's are but the two middle line cannot move the pile back to hurry the oppossing QB. If you could get some Dline besides Peppers that could pressure the QB, the rest of our defense is solid especially with Gamble/Lucas/Beason and company backing it up.
Just something to think about.
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Silver Fox 5 months ago
I agree with C's statement about the defense. Delhomme does not obviously deserve the full blame, but 6 turnovers speak loud and clear. The coaches should have tried McCown or Moore by the middle of the 3rd quarter to see if something else would work.
Sterling, thank you for the question.I can make this bold of a statement because the running game carried the team in 2009, even when Delhomme struggled.
Also, the Panthers defense is average, givng up a lot of points. Delhomme probably could win a Super Bowl with the Ravens or Steelers or maybe even the Eagles defense. I do give Jake credit for winning the first game of the season over the Chargers.
With the present set of 3 QBs, Delhomme is still the best choice. However, after 2 or 3 interceptions, the Panthers need to try a QB from the bench.
The ideal solution would be to draft or obtain an elite QB who can either start next season or observe for a season while Jake starts in 2009. In either case, the QB position should be competitive, not a gimme. I love Delhomme and feel for him and his teammates, but it is time to move on in my humble opinion.
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Sterling Eby 5 months ago
So if we DO draft a new quarterback. That would be absolutely pointless. We do not have a designed passing team. We have Muhammad, and Smith Two Extremely talented receivers. Jarrett is still breaking in his footsteps. Hackett hasn't been healthy. After that. Who do we have to throw too? King is still strugling and Rosario is just average. We are a designed running team. We just need smarter decisions from Delhomme. That's all.
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