Against the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday, the
Carolina Panthers found the best way to overcome quarterback Jake Delhomme's
season-long struggles.
Run the football.
Helped by an early lead, the Panthers (3-4) ran the ball 44 times for 270
yards, getting a pair of touchdown rushes from Jonathan Stewart and 158 yards
on 23 carries from DeAngelo Williams in a 34-21 victory. It marked the second-
highest rushing total in club history, behind only a 299-yard output versus
Tampa Bay on December 8, 2008.
Williams upped his career total to 3,352 rushing yards to become the
franchise's all-time leading rusher. He passed the 3,336 yards DeShaun Foster
notched from 2002-07.
"We've kind of developed [a run game] over the last few games," said head
coach John Fox, whose club is now averaging 148.9 yards per game on the
ground. "We didn't run the ball especially well early in the season."
Carolina was also helped by the fact that Delhomme didn't turn the ball over
for the first time this season. He entered the game with a league-high 13
interceptions, but completed 7-of-14 pass attempts for 90 yards with a 50-yard
touchdown pass.
Delhomme also suffered a chest injury in the third quarter, playing a series
after taking a hard hit from Arizona's Chike Okeafor and Darnell Dockett that
resulted in a trip to the hospital in the fourth quarter.
"Last week (a loss to Buffalo) was a low point," said Delhomme, who didn't
find out until the middle of the week that he was to remain the starting
quarterback. I don't know any other way to put it. To say it was the lowest
point I've ever had as a quarterback, as a Panther, probably so. I know for
me, so after a ton of soul searching...I was looking forward to going out
there and just playing."
The win was sort of a mirror opposite of Carolina's playoff loss to Arizona
last year, a setback in which Delhomme threw five interceptions and lost a
fumble to begin his current downward spiral.
However, the Panthers were the ones hogging the ball this past weekend,
picking off Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner five times while also recovering
a fumble. One of those picks was taken 13 yards for a score by Julius Peppers.
Delhomme, though, is more pleased with the momentum Carolina picked up heading
into this Sunday's matchup with first-place New Orleans than putting to rest
any past ghosts.
"It's nice that we came in and won," said Delhomme. "But we needed it more for
the '09 Panthers than we needed it to bury something from the '08 Panthers."
SAINTS: Even when the offense is down, the defense is right there to pick up
the New Orleans Saints.
For a second straight week, the Saints turned the ball over four times. After
Drew Brees was picked off three times and lost a fumble in a 46-34 victory
over the Miami Dolphins in Week 7, New Orleans lost three fumbles and Brees
was intercepted once in Monday night's divisional battle with the Atlanta
Falcons.
Even with the ugly play, the Saints were able to notch a 35-27 victory over
the Falcons to match their best start in club history. The 1991 squad also
went 7-0, and New Orleans joins the Indianapolis Colts as the only two
undefeated teams left in the NFL this season.
While the Saints offense still did its thing, accounting for four touchdowns
in the win, there is little doubt that they are able to shake off bad play so
easily because of the defense.
There was Jabari Greer's interception with 42 seconds left until the half that
he took 48 yards for a score, giving New Orleans two-touchdown led. However,
the biggest turnover came from fellow cornerback Tracy Porter.
After a Pierre Thomas fumble early in the fourth quarter, the Falcons marched
to the Saints 10 trailing by four points. However, Porter intercepted Ryan to
end the drive and the Saints found the end zone on the resulting march.
"It was huge," said safety Darren Sharper of Porter's pick. "That had to be
the play of the game. [The Falcons] were driving to go up. We get that
interception and didn't allow any points. That was big. We have done a good
job of making big plays in the red zone. That has kind of been the staple of
our defense. It's big preventing them from scoring."
Sharper got in on the act as well, picking off his NFL high-tying seventh pass
of the season.
New Orleans now has 16 interceptions on the season after totaling 15 all of
last year. The Saints have also matched the club's 1998 record of five picks
returned for touchdowns.
"Obviously, the defense is playing great," said Brees. "They're doing a great
job of taking the ball away. Our scoring defense has been unbelievable.
They've had the ability to create momentum for our side of the ball."
The Saints deserve a lot of credit for the offseason moves they made to shore
up the defense. Bringing in Greer, Sharper and defensive tackle Anthony
Hargrove has all paid off, but the biggest move may have been the addition of
defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
"I think certainly he is a big reason why we are 7-0," head coach Sean Payton
said of Williams. "I don't know that when you start off you envision exactly
what it is going to be like. We set goals as a team to win the division and
reach the playoffs. The way we've been able to turn the ball over and score
defensively is a big reason that we are where we are right now."
Where the Saints are is three games up on the second-place Falcons.
Monday's game was just New Orleans' first this year against its division, with
game No. 2 coming this Sunday at home versus 3-4 Carolina.
BUCCANEERS: With nothing left to lose, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will finally
give 2009 first-round draft choice Josh Freeman his first career start this
weekend versus the Green Bay Packers.
Head coach Raheem Morris made the announcement last Wednesday and the move
came as no surprise, since the Buccaneers were on their bye last weekend. At
0-7, it seems to make little sense in keeping Tampa Bay's quarterback of the
future on the sidelines.
"The plan, bringing [Freeman] in here was to let him sit behind the veteran,"
said Morris last weekend. "Hopefully the veteran gets you a bunch of wins, but
that didn't happen."
That veteran, Byron Leftwich, started the first three games before giving way
to backup Josh Johnson, who then started the next four games but now returns
to the No. 2 spot.
So what will Freeman bring to the table this weekend? Morris said last weekend
that while Johnson could make plays with his legs, Freeman will say in the
pocket more and stretch the field.
That should be welcome news for wide receiver Antonio Bryant, who totaled 83
catches, 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns -- all career highs -- last year,
but has been held to 16 catches for 229 yards with a pair of scores this
season.
Freeman will jump into the fire quickly, as the Packers rank fourth in the NFL
in yards allowed (283.4 ypg) and are ninth versus the pass (184.0 ypg).
Freeman, taken 17th overall out of Kansas State, should have time to throw the
ball, though, as the Packers are just 28th in the league with 12 sacks.
Tampa Bay's offense should finally seem some stability now with Freeman under
center. The unit knew the change was coming sometime and can now build
chemistry with its new leader.
Of course, getting running backs Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward going will
help, as will Bryant and fellow wideout Mark Clayton holding onto passes,
something that helped doom Johnson.
"All the quarterbacks that have been in there have been subject to some other
people not doing a great job for them as well," said Morris last week. "But
now it's time to get Josh [Freeman] out there. You know you've got to run the
right routes, be in the right spots, everybody's got to do the right thing.
You've got to block and protect the right way and you've got to get it all
done together."
The Bucs tried to do with Freeman what the Packers did with Aaron Rodgers.
Green Bay selected the California product in the first round of the 2005
draft, but didn't hand him the starting job until 2008 because of a guy named
Brett Favre.
Tampa Bay didn't have that luxury, but getting Freeman experience in this lost
season should help get the club on the right path.
FALCONS: The Atlanta Falcons probably felt like they did almost everything
they needed to do to hand the New Orleans Saints their first loss of the
season. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough in a 35-27 setback.
The Falcons won the turnover battle, 4-3, and that third lost football -- Matt
Ryan's third interception of the game -- came on Atlanta's final offensive
possession of the game with seconds to go.
What also went Atlanta's way? How about running back Michael Turner's best
game of the season, the Falcons' first defensive touchdown off a fumble since
2007 and three fumble recoveries overall?
The Falcons, though, couldn't take advantage of their chances. The biggest
came midway in the fourth quarter, when Atlanta recovered a fumble at the
Saints' 35-yard line. Turner busted off a 24-yard run to get to the Saints'
11, but after a one-yard gain by the running back, Ryan was picked off to
stall the drive with Atlanta trailing by four.
The Saints scored a touchdown on their resulting possession.
"It's a tough loss playing a good NFC South rival in the Saints," said Ryan.
"We expected it to be physical and it was. I thought our defense gave us
plenty of opportunities to take advantage and score and we just didn't get it
done."
Atlanta won't walk away from this game with its collective heads down, but the
loss dropped the Falcons three games back of the first-place Saints. Thanks to
back-to-back defeats, Atlanta is also just a game ahead of the third-place
Panthers as well.
"I thought it was a very hard fought game," said head coach Mike Smith. "I
thought we showed a lot of resolve to stay in it. I thought we dug ourselves
into too big of a hole in the first half to be down by two touchdowns. I
thought our defense came out and played extremely well in the third quarter
and gave us an opportunity to be in the game."
While Turner ran for a season-high 151 yards and added a touchdown for a sixth
straight game, Ryan was less than sharp. He completed just 19 of his 42 pass
attempts to go along with his season-high three picks. Ryan notched just a
46.6 passer rating and has eight interceptions over his last four games.
"I thought Matt's play through the game was good," said Smith. "We have to
take care of the football."
Ryan will aim to get back on track this Sunday in a home game with 2-5
Washington.
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