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Tavern talk: Fox’s plan is to stay employed

Panthers coach keeps Delhomme at QB. Here’s why. Michael Lombardi

Bookmark and Share Print This Send This October 28, 2009, 05:43 PM EST
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Carolina head coach John Fox announced today that Jake Delhomme will stay on as the team’s starting quarterback. How is that possible -- especially when the Panthers have to play the high-flying Cardinals on Sunday? The same Cardinals team that started this awful streak of games for Delhomme in the playoffs last year. The first time he throws an interception or a bad ball, won’t his teammates think the worst is yet to come?

Jake DelhommeAPPanthers head coach John Fox is sticking with QB Jake Delhomme.

This move by Fox is a clear indication to me that he feels his job is on the line and he must salvage something from this season or there might not be any more for him as head coach. Fox is a smart man and a very good coach, but he knows he doesn’t have the right player at quarterback, and making a move to Matt Moore or A.J. Feely might look good on paper but send a signal to his team that the season is over. I know, you’re all saying with Delhomme the season is over, but in reality, Delhomme is a security blanket for Fox. A bad one, but the only one Fox knows.

Last offseason, Fox changed his entire defensive staff, and the front office has made moves as if there is no tomorrow, trading away next year’s picks and spending a ton of money on one player (Julius Peppers), so clearly there is no tomorrow. Sticking with Delhomme tells me that they would rather live with his mistakes and try to avoid them than learn something new about a player — and that something new might be good, or it might be even worse.

Now, to lay all that ails the Panthers at the feet of Delhomme is unfair. Their offense is rather pedestrian and their lack of a significant No. 2 wide receiver makes it difficult to feature Steve Smith properly week in and week out. However, the Panthers clearly have not recovered from their playoff failure, and the memory of Delhomme throwing the ball to the Cardinals is still fresh in every player’s (and fan’s) mind.

What is Fox holding on to? He’s hoping that the streaky Delhomme breaks his bad streak and starts a good one. Delhomme is 14-8 in the regular season the past two years but has thrown 19 touchdown passes and 25 interceptions in that span. His has only seven pass completions over 25 yards this season -- and as we all know with Delhomme, he must make big plays down the field to be successful. His last three games of the 2008 regular season, he threw 10 25-yard pass plays alone.

Delhomme is a different player in ‘09 than he was in ‘08, and Fox must be hoping for the bad streak to end. We all know never to confuse hope for a plan, and in this case, the plan is to stay employed as a head coach.

Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi

Comments

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Mikey
Oct 28, 2009
06:15 PM

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

Word here in Carolina is that it's already over for Fox.

Drew T.
Oct 28, 2009
07:17 PM

Delhomme reminds me a lot of Jake Plummer just before Jay Cutler replaced him. All the sudden, he just couldn't physically make the throws he needed to make. He lost his mojo.

The thing is, its not like Fox can reach into his magic bag and pull a Jay Cutler out. I somehow doubt that Matt Moore or A.J. Feely can suddenly turn the bus around.

I empathize with Fox's plight.

Umberto
Oct 28, 2009
07:33 PM

Delhomme is a shame and watching him ruining every week the amazing work of DeAngelo Williams, the best hb in the league, is painful. But are we sure that AJ Feely or Moore could solve any of Carolina's problems? I don't think so and I understand why Fox is stay with Delhomme that even playing the worst football of his career is still better that the other 2 qbs they have.

swansoncide
Oct 28, 2009
09:22 PM

The problem isn't that Delhomme has regressed, the problem is his lack of receivers and a terrible offensive scheme.

Bizarrely, the Panthers only throw to either Smith or Muhammed. Muhammed has absolutely nothing left. Zero.

So if you're playing the Panthers, you just have to triple-cover Smith and play center-field.

None of this is Delhomme's fault.

The Gritz Blitz
Oct 28, 2009
09:38 PM

Didn't the Panthers owners sons resign . Didn't they layoff a slew of their employees in the spring . That franchise seems out of whack . He should want to get fired after the season ends . If not he will have to play Jake Delhomme with his silly contract next season as well . Mark my words , in a year from now we will be saying the same thing about how much longer will Jake Delhomme be starting . John Fox will get his choice of bad teams to coach next season . If I we're him I would start Julius Peppers at qb and run the run & shoot . Please fire me .

Bob58
Oct 28, 2009
10:13 PM

I like Jake Delhomme but for the love of God....

Will someone in Carolina please tell him that Blanda's 1962 season record is safe. He can stop trying so hard to break it.

Bob58
Oct 28, 2009
10:13 PM

I like Jake Delhomme but for the love of God....

Will someone in Carolina please tell him that Blanda's 1962 season record is safe. He can stop trying so hard to break it.

Andrew
Oct 28, 2009
11:05 PM

So blindly staying with the guy who is absolutely killing your team is the way to keep your job? Sign me up.

Sonny L.
Oct 29, 2009
09:27 AM

As you alway say Mike, it starts by being able to evaluate your own players and not over-value them.

Fox and the GM Hurney overvalued Delhomme and he's never been more than a middle of the road QB. Then after the playoff debacle, they never brought in a QB to challenge Jake and make him EARN the starting job. Keep him sure, but have a backup plan and upgrade your friggen roster.

So, now Fox says Delhomme gives them the best chance to win. Of course he does, because they didn't have a backup plan.... Shame on them and Fox and Hurney deserve to lose their jobs.

AZPanther
Oct 29, 2009
09:32 AM

Lombardi I blame you. It was a great secret last year that Jake was not a game manager but as you put it " a big play gunslinger". Up until that point everyone looked for the short passing routes and single covered Smitty. Once you went to the mountaintop (Simmons podcast) and let out our secrets we have never been the same. Thanks for ruining my team.

We have never had a decent QB at Carolina and I dont see how we ever will. Save your Beurlein comments as he was a pass happy QB that threw more interceptions in the red zone than Jake. He was actually identical to him as he only threw to Wesley Walls and would force it in and give the pick.

I hope everyday that the team gets on a roll and makes a run but it just looks worse every game. Its not just Jakes fault though. The game planning is ridiculous. How many screen passes can you throw which are now replaced by 6 yard passes to tight ends that are covered by the middle linebacker. It gets to be fun when you can watch them come up to the line and predict exactly where the ball is going and to whom.

Andy
Oct 29, 2009
09:44 AM

Simplify the system? Make him more of a game manager? With that running attack, why are they throwing so often?

ScottR.
Oct 29, 2009
11:01 AM

It's really hard to bench a Jake mere months after signing him to a fat contract--basically you would be admitting you made an enormous mistake and I guess the Panthers' brain trust are not ready to concede that.

Can the Panthers release him after the season without a massive cap hit? Seems like they are stuck with him, as a starter or mop up guy, for at least another year.

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