I can't say much about yesterdays game except for that was awful. I've been a strong supporter of Jake Delhomme through the years and this offseason, but at this point I am quickly losing faith. Unfortunately, we don't have a better option right now, but the front office better make a move this offseason. Anyway onto the post game interviews, first up John Fox:
Obviously I think we start back with Jake. We've got to go back and evaluate what happened to us. Without watching the tape, I don't think it was all Jake's fault.
Fox plans on staying with Delhomme as the Panthers starter next week, but really what other option do we have. We could pickup a FA and I know Jeff Garcia's name is being thrown around a lot, but really would it he be better. I suppose anybody that doesn't through that many INT in a game would be better. However, I will give him another week to rebound but if we see another game like yesterday, I suppose it may be time for Moore. But do we really want to go down that road? I'm not so sure. I just wish I had an answer and I bet so do the coaches.
Offensive line a surprise?
Give credit to Philadelphia. They had a good plan. At the end of the day, they coached better than us and played better than us. That's what I saw.
Everybody wants to blame Jake, but when you have eight guys pouring in on you, it's hard to blame the quarterback.
I really want to put this one on the coaches and I think they should take some of the blame, but Jake said in his interview that they were expecting it.
Yeah, that's what they do. Their a good football team and we knew they were going to bring pressure. They got good pressure, and we didn't respond to it. Give them credit. You know what? This is the NFL. If we didn't deal with it this week, we're going to see a lot more next week (against Atlanta).
So I suppose this goes back to the O-line and poor execution. It's really hard to say what went wrong, but the OL play was horrendous. You would imagine that coming back with the O-line in tack from last year, they would be at least 1/2 as good as last season. Next week should be interesting against Atlanta and as Jake said we can expect a lot more blitzing as the season progresses if we don't improve. Jake needs time, and if doesn't get it then expect more of the same.
Of course Jake was his usual humble self about being pulled form the game:
No I wasn't getting anything going for us. Great first drive, downhill from there.
However, what concerns me is his statement about if he has lost confidence:
They have a right to ask and the way I played today it looked like that, but I don't feel like that. If I was not confident, I'd check the ball down every play.
Really, so that's the only reason to check down. I admit I'm not an expert, but it seems when they are sending eight guys and you can't get the ball down the field that the check down is the option you choose. That's how you make the defense pay for blitzing so much.
Yet, Steve Smith said he was supporting his QB:
Our relationship goes further than on the field. ... At a time like this he needs than teammates but real friends.
While I understand what Smith is saying, I didn't hear anything actually supporting Jake as a QB. However, I won't go as far as saying Smith doesn't believe in Jake as QB any longer. Sure you can be best friends outside of the stadium, but Jake's intangibles only go so far on the field.
Last, here is how Smith described the offensive performance, which put's pretty plainly.
Offensively we just sucked. Lets be honest.