Panthers-Chargers: Carolina Beats San Diego in Week One Showdown

All of the media hype concerning Jake Delhomme's "bum" elbow, coupled with the invincibility of the San Diego Chargers, left some Panther fans wondering why they should even give up a Sunday afternoon watching their team lose their 2008 opening game.

Really, there were other decent games on, too. There was a NASCAR race to watch and, of course, there had to be a few movies still on at the theaters that you missed this summer. 

After all, this first game was a non-conference throwaway game for the Panthers. The Panthers came into the game with their depleted receiving corps leaving many Panther  fans to believe their Panthers had little chance to win the game.

Some fans hoped their team would just come out of the San Diego game with no serious injuries, and then go into their home opener against Kyle Orton and the Chicago Bears and let both barrels blaze and pick up their first win there. 

Seriously, many Panther fans knew the Bears seemed like a good starting point for the Panthers to get their first win. After that win, the Panthers would be 1-1 and could then go on a seven-game tear against the weaker half of the NFL and hopefully embark on their nine-win season.

A nine win season could probably get the Panthers a wild-card playoff berth and that would make everyone happy in Charlotte.  

That is the old "Detroit Lions philosophy"...One where you know your team is going to lose all of their mismatches, yet they hope they get enough wins in their "easy" games to stay close to .500 record.

It's also known as conditioning. Where you have been beaten down and have lost so many times, mediocrity becomes a goal. However, in today's NFL, there are very few "easy" games.

Luckily for Panther fans, their team did not buy into the "let's just work on the games we think we can win and not sweat the games where we are over-matched" attitude.

The Panthers failed to get the memo about them being over-matched Sunday, on the road, against a Super Bowl favorite, and oh yeah, the Panthers had to leave their very best player in Charlotte.

I remember the "Cardiac Cats," and I refuse to believe that there is any team out there that is unbeatable. The Panthers went out Sunday and used the tools they had to simply outperform one of the league's highest-rated teams.

Their game plan was simple. John Fox had prepared his defense to stop the run and hold L.T. to less than 100 yards. He had prepared his offense to run the ball and use as much of the clock as possible and just keep the game close enough to have a shot to win it in the end.

Thanks to a very solid rushing game, and John Kasay's leg, the Panthers' game plan began to work. To further the effort, a stingy run defense, which also included  a veteran takeaway from safety Chris Harris and subsequent touchdown by cornerback Chris Gamble in the last minute of the third quarter, left the Panthers with the lead going into the fourth quarter.

With 10:09 left in the fourth quarter, the Panthers called on John Kasay, once again, to kick a critical 49-yard field goal.

Kasay's kick was good. 

Gamble's touchdown and Kasay's field goal gave the Panthers a two-score lead with just 10 minutes left in the game. But remember, the Panthers were playing a Charger team that was not about to give up. 

With just 6:45 left in the game, the Chargers scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Rivers to Antonio Gates. The score was now Carolina 19, San Diego 17.

The Panthers took over with a two-point lead, starting off on their own 37-yard line. After two run plays that went for five yards, the Panthers were faced with a 3rd-and-5.  

There is always that "one" play in a game that can change the game itself, and on the third-down play, it looked as if the game was slipping through Carolina's hands, as Jake Delhomme threw a five-yard strike to D.J. Hackett.

Hackett looked to have dropped the ball on the way to the ground. However, no whistle blew, and the Chargers found themselves with the ball on the Carolina 28-yard line. The Panthers challenged the call and lost the challenge, as well as a precious timeout.

The Chargers began their drive well within field-goal range and looked content to come out, run the ball, eat up the clock, and kick a game-winning field goal. Their first run resulted in no yards, but Carolina was called for defensive holding.

The Chargers got the ball five yards closer with a new set of downs. After an incomplete pass, the Chargers ran four times in a row to the Panthers' six-yard line. On the next play, the Chargers scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson.

Following the kickoff, Jake Delhomme let fans know that Brett Favre was not the only  "gun slinger" still playing in the NFL.  The following drive would prove Delhomme's drive and desire to win is stronger than most players will  ever know.

Delhomme employed the two-minute offense and started taking what the Chargers gave him. They were four points down with 2:21 left in the game, and Carolina had one timeout left. Delhomme managed to get two quick pass plays in and gain 21 yards in just 21 seconds and two first downs before the clock stopped for the two-minute warning. 

Following the two minute warning, Delhomme failed to complete his first pass, but he quickly went on to complete five of seven and move the ball to the Chargers' 23-yard line with only 31 seconds left, and then Delhomme completed a three-yard pass to Nick Goings, but he did not call his final timeout. He quickly lined his team up as the clock began to run out.

Delhomme was able to get a very quick, six-yard pass to veteran Muhsin Muhammad, who dove for the ball and immediately came up calling a timeout. The Panthers used their final timeout, and it left them with 4th-and-1, with only two seconds on the game clock and the ball on the Chargers' 14-yard line.

Carolina had one shot to score an offensive touchdown, something they had not been able to do all day. If ever there was a time for Steve Smith to make a play, it was now. Of course, Smith was not even in the equation. 

Delhomme dropped back for the snap, which came out high and fast. Delhomme handled the snap, dropped back, and quickly became surrounded as the pocket began to  collapse.

With no time on the clock, Delhomme stepped up in the pocket and forced out a hard pump fake and then hauled it back in, only to fire a pass high and hard, from the 20-yard line, to hit a jumping, double teamed Dante Rosario.

Rosario came down with the ball held high and with both feet on the ground. The Charger crowd stood in stunned disbelief, as the game was now over and their highly-touted team had just lost.

Charger coach, Norv Turner, said last week that his Charger team had better skilled players than the Panthers did in all 22 positions.

The one thing Turner did not account for was a team with more heart than his. However,  I also believe he did not scout Dante Rosario well enough. Rosario had shown "flashes" near the end of last seaon and proved he could run nice receiving route and catch a deep touchdown pass as he did in this pre-season's thumping of the Washington Redskins.  Rosario led all receivers with 7 catches for 96 yards and he hauled in the all-important game winner.

Finally, the game was not really as close as the scoreboard dictated. The Carolina Panthers left at least seven points on the field after driving the ball to the one-yard line and then trying a pass on fourth down.

Brad Hoover missed a one-yard touchdown pass that looked as if it could have been caught. Following the game, Hoover seemed none to pleased a run play was not called, as the Chargers'' defense seemed to be having little success at shutting down the Panthers' rush attack, which was averaging 4.9 yards a carry. 

A rookie mistake by safety Charles Godfrey allowed seven more points to be added to San Diego's score. Godfrey was deep in coverage against Chris Chambers when he saw Charger QB  Phillip Rivers scramble to avoid a sack.

Godfrey looked as if he we was unsure whether to stay in coverage or come up and seal off the quarterback. Godfrey let Chambers go on the play and unfortunately, it costs his team a touchdown.

Make no mistake about: The Carolina Panthers' roster is made up of some very noteworthy veteran players that have some valuable, big-game experience. The roster also includes a strong assortment of some high quality younger players.

Now, with one of the biggest wins in franchise history under their belts in 2008, the Panthers look like a team with the potential to have a successful season.

It was five years ago when an unknown quarterback from New Orleans, named Delhomme, went into the opening game in relief of former Panther, Rodney Peete.

Delhomme then led the Panthers to an improbable, come-from-behind victory. I believe most Panther fans remember how the 2003 season went for the Panthers.