GumboBC

Any discussion of the Carolina Panthers consists primarily of 3 topics – Defense – Stephen Davis – Jake Delhomme. Let’s start out with what I feel is the primary reason for the Panthers improbable run to the super bowl in 2003. And that’s defense!!!

Carolina’s defense was simply outstanding last year. Consider this:

1. In 2-games they held opponents to 10 or less points.
2. In 3-games they held opponents to 15 or less points.
3. In 5-games they held opponents to 20 or less points.

What that amounts to is the offense only had to score 21-points in order to win 10-games. (For the record, the Panthers finished 11-5.) Not a bad situation for an offense to be in.

In the 6-games the Panthers allowed an opponent to score more than 20-points, they finished with a 3-3 record.

Here are those games:

1. Tennessee L 17-37
2. Dallas L 20-24
3. Philadelphia L 16-25
4. Jacksonville W 24-23
5. Tampa Bay W 27-24
6. N.Y. Giants W 27-24

As you can see, the Panthers did not win any games against teams who finished the season with a winning record when they allowed them to score more than 20-points.

But, here’s a fact not too many know about the Panthers 2003 season.

Fact:
The Panthers only beat ONE team with a winning record during the 2003 regular season. – That win came against the Colts, in which the Panthers defense held the Colts potent offense to 20-points. That just goes to show you that you don’t need great cornerbacks to shut down the best QB in the NFL.


And while the Panthers defense was consistently running offenses off the field and giving the ball back to the Panthers offense, Stephen Davis and Deshaun Foster got busy rushing for 2,091 yards. With Stephen Davis accounting for 1,444 of those yards. It’s hard to argue that any player was more valuable to his team than what Stephen Davis was. Not only was Stephen Davis able to keep the chains moving by averaging 4.5 per carry, but he also broke off several long runs. For the season Davis had 11 runs of 20 or more yards and a season long run of 79 yards. Davis also rushed for 8 TDs.

Then there’s Jake Delhomme. Jake was inserted in the Panthers offense during the second half of the Panthers first regular season game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jake stepped in for an ineffective Rodney Peete and led the Panthers to a come from behind victory by throwing for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns. For the record: Jake also threw 2 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles.

Jakes performance against the Jaguars was enough evidence for John Fox to name Jake the starting QB the following week and Jake would never lose that starting job.

In the Panthers offense, Jake wasn’t asked to do too much. The Panthers idea on how to win games was to put the ball in the hands of Stephen Davis and rely on their defense. Jake really wasn’t asked to do a whole lot. And in most of the Panthers games, Jake really wasn’t too much of a factor.

Just to give some kind of indication of how little of a factor the QB played in the Panthers offense.

Consider this:

In 4 of the Panthers wins, Jake did not throw any touchdowns. And is some cases threw no TD and 2 interceptions.

1. Jake Delhomme vs. Tampa 96YDS / TD=0 / INT=2
2. Jake Dehomme vs. Saints 124YDS/ TD=0 / INT=0
3. Jake Delhomme vs. Saints 148YDS/ TD=0/ INT=0
4. Jake Delhomme vs. Redskins 317YDS/ TD=0 / INT=2

For the season, Jake did a respectable job throwing for 3,219 yards with 19 TDs and 16 INTS.

Jakes season didn’t end in the regular season, though. In Jakes first playoff game against the Cowboys, Jake threw for 273 yards and 2 TDs.

Next Jake faced the St. Louis Rams in which he completed 16 passes for 290 yard, 1 TD and 1 INT.

Then in the NFL championship game against the Eagles Delhomme would complete 9 of 14 passes for 101 yards and 1 TD. This game would send the Panthers to the super bowl.

The super bowl was a mixed bag for Jake and the Panthers offense. In the first half the Panthers had the ball for 8 possessions. Out of those 8 possessions the Panthers had negative yardage for 6 of the possessions.

But, after that Jake Delhomme and the Panthers offense caught fire. Jake would go on to complete 16 of 33 passes for 323 YDS and 3 TDs. The Patriots would go on to win the game by a field goal.


[Edited on 29/6/2004 by GumboBC]

WhoDat

So you\'re saying the Panthers got to the Super Bowl with a great defense and talented hands players despite a so-so QB? Who ever would have thunk it?

GumboBC

Well, WhoDat, that\'s certainly one way to get to the super bowl.

The Patriots used a different formula by not having a great runningback.

The Rams used another formula by having a great passing game and a weak defense.

The Packers had a totally different formula than all of them.

But, from what I can tell the teams with an above average QB actually won the super bowl... But, your formula can certainly get the job done.