The Time Has Come

[Mr. Scot]

To bring us up to where we are now...

January 10th: Panthers defeated by Cardinals. Delhomme implodes. After one good drive, the game turns into a disaster. I posted after the game that it was time to move on because I didn't believe teammates would trust Delhomme. Teammates would later hit the papers saying exactly the opposite. It becomes clear that Delhomme has more sway in the locker room than I thought.

March 13th: I wrote a post called "The Forgotten Man" positing the theory that the Panthers could cut Delhomme and go with Josh McCown as their starter for both salary cap and performance reasons.

March 26th: Darin Gantt blogs that he believes the Panthers will give Delhomme a contract extension, and not just for cap relief. Despite the awful playoff performance, both players and coaches still believe in him.

April 23rd: The Panthers prove Gantt right and me wrong, signing Jake Delhomme to a long - and lucrative - extension. My initial reaction? I'm okay with the move and cap relief, but the number of years and the number of dollars make me do a double take.

September 5th: Panthers make final cuts. Over the course of the preseason, I've come to believe that the QB depth chart will remain completely unchanged from the prior season. It does. My mood: As always, cautiously optimistic. I'm ready to give Delhomme the benefit of a doubt and see what happens.

September 9th: Panthers choose team captains. Delhomme is chosen on offense, reaffirming the faith his teammates have in him.

September 13th: Panthers defeated by Eagles. Delhomme implodes. After one good drive, the game turns into a disaster.

We've come full circle.

Are there reasons other than Delhomme that the Panthers lost, and lost badly? As it was with Arizona, absolutely.

- The offensive line had no answer for the Eagles pressure

- DeAngelo Williams all but went missing

- Brad Hoover, sadly, looked old and slow

- Jonathan Stewart looked "not quite there", though arguably better than Williams

- Ball security was an issue for some players not named Delhomme too

- As in any bad loss, there were some ill timed drops by receivers (like there's ever a good time)

- The Eagles got a huge "no call" for a block in the back on that return

- Even with the bad call and the FG block, special teams were not that good overall

- A defense that was already thin lost another key player in Chris Harris

- Other players were hurt and taken out for short periods through the game

With all that said, Delhomme's second major implosion in two games - although far apart - is just too much.

Even on the plays that weren't disasters, Delhomme looked badly off. Yes, Philly's defense had a lot to do with that, but we're going to be facing other good defenses this year as well. With that game film in play, what do you think they'll do?

Is it age? Is it the Tommy John surgery? I don't know, but whatever it is, it's bad.

John Fox looks likely to start Delhomme again, and in doing so will likely take his cue from Eagles coach Andy Reid. Reid benched McNabb last season reportedly not for performance, but as a protective measure (so he now says) to keep him from getting any further damage in a game that was going badly. Fox will likely say the same thing, and he may well mean it.

But it's not the same.

Though I'm not among the group that believes McNabb is an elite QB, I can say that in that particular case, I don't think he deserved to be benched for performance.

Delhomme, in yesterday's game, did.

Many will no doubt second guess the Panthers failure to make moves at QB in the offseason. Sadly though, there was nothing out there that was truly attainable that was worth going after.

Cassel? Despite his contract, he barely beat out Brodie Croyle to start in KC, and now he's hurt.

Cutler? Too expensive to get, and anyone watch the Bears-Packers game last night?

Vick? Never gonna happen, and shouldn't (still a crappy passer)

Draft a rookie? With what? No first rounder and too many needs to trade up that high. Plus, you do remember who coaches the Panthers, right?

Losman? Jackson? Thigpen? Anderson? Garcia? Campbell? Please. I wouldn't have taken any of them over McCown or Moore, much less Delhomme.

There just weren't any good options, and sadly, there still aren't.

My preference at this point would be to go with Josh McCown, but McCown was injured in yesterday's game and at this point his readiness is a question mark. People will point to Matt Moore's performance yesterday and say that he should start, but it's worth noting that the Eagles sat some starters when Moore came in and had, to a certain extent, called off the dogs. Yes, he looked the best of all the QBs yesterday, but put it in proper context.

Still, I've written many times that smart coaches should never re-start benched QBs. If you're going to sit them, sit them permanently, otherwise don't pull them. My opinion on that is unchanged. And truthfully, even if it's a guy who his teammates still trust, there comes a time when a coach needs to say "enough".

Thus, with Delhomme performing badly and McCown questionable, I have to throw my vote behind Matt Moore. Yes, he'll struggle, but I've never stopped believing Moore could be the QB of the future in Carolina. In this case, the future will just need to be accelerated.

Bottom Line: Much as I'm a fan of Delhomme, as good as he was for the most part last season leading the team to a 12-4 record, and as much praise and gratitude as he deserves for everything he's done for this team (that's a lot), and as much as I hate to say it...

...the time has come.

Do I believe it will be done? No.

Do I believe it should be?

Yes.

[pstall]

Great write up Mr.Scot. I will give you one word as to the problem.

ARROGANCE

The Panthers FO was so arrogant to think they could remain status quo.

Hey Stewart. Take it easy, we can just roll you back out there and you will be fine.

Jarrett, we know you will turn the switch and play great.

No need to change our schemes. We will line up and win the battle on the line. We don't need a proven #3 WR. We have SS and Moose is a great blocker.

In next weeks game if there is no significant scheme changes at least in the passing game. It's over. And I'm not talking wins and losses but Fox and his staff.

[pantherclaw]

Was happy to see Jake out of the game, but it didn't matter a damn with the way one of the better o-lines in the nfl, didn't block.

[Snake]

I agree with your statement but I doubt Delhomme will be benched. IMO I think he needs it. He has just lost all confidants and his mechanics are horrible. Not bad like in the past but Horrible. They accounted for atleast 3 of the INTs. I just dont see him shaking this off. He didnt do it for a whole Preseason why is he gonna do it in a week.

[Seamonk]

To bring us up to where we are now...

*insert really long post here*

...the time has come.

Why don't you have a blog?

[Snake]

Great write up Mr.Scot. I will give you one word as to the problem.

ARROGANCE

The Panthers FO was so arrogant to think they could remain status quo.

Hey Stewart. Take it easy, we can just roll you back out there and you will be fine.

Jarrett, we know you will turn the switch and play great.

No need to change our schemes. We will line up and win the battle on the line. We don't need a proven #3 WR. We have SS and Moose is a great blocker.

In next weeks game if there is no significant scheme changes at least in the passing game. It's over. And I'm not talking wins and losses but Fox and his staff.

Im starting to feel the same way. If Fox felt secure with his job he would not have been dealing away our future 1st round picks. His head in on the block and I think this year it might just get chopped.

Was happy to see Jake out of the game, but it didn't matter a damn with the way one of the better o-lines in the nfl, didn't block.

Really the whole team played bad. Jake and Our O-line was the bright red thumbs though.

[rayzor]

mr. scot, i agree with pretty much everything that you said. i'm not as quick to say absolutely no he shouldn't start just to see if they can fix anything but even giving him a permanent spot on the bench would be an attempt at a fix.

i just don't know.

i do know that many of the things that you have been saying about jake could also be said about fox. the team has had both of their backs but when is it time to cut ties.

i put jake and fox in the same box right now. they have to climb out of it together or get buried together. i'm just curious to see if either or both have what it takes to climb out of it.

[pantherclaw]

Special teams sucked. O-line sucked, QB play sucked. Then they put in fumble the ball Goodson, and he...FUMBLES THE BALL!!!

Peppers and Davis are the only two that played well.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

He has just lost all confidants and his mechanics are horrible.

Surely Jake has someone he can talk to. Furthermore, I don't think he'd have any trouble finding someone to fix his vehicles, given his recent contract extension.

[walt227]

Great post. Even the "voice of reason" realizes its time to move on, regardless of the risks. The Arizona game was the culmination of what we all knew Jake was capable of----yesterday's performance was reassurance.

Now...where to go? Anywhere but back to 17. He's done. Thanks for the memories (well, at least some).

[Mr. Scot]

mr. scot, i agree with pretty much everything that you said. i'm not as quick to say absolutely no he shouldn't start just to see if they can fix anything but even giving him a permanent spot on the bench would be an attempt at a fix.

i just don't know.

i do know that many of the things that you have been saying about jake could also be said about fox. the team has had both of their backs but when is it time to cut ties.

i put jake and fox in the same box right now. they have to climb out of it together or get buried together. i'm just curious to see if either or both have what it takes to climb out of it.

Trust me, I'd love to be proven wrong in this case. I just don't have any confidence that I will be.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Scot, don't give this FO an excuse. Jake has not been a quality player since 2005. We could have upgraded after the 2006 season. We didn't. We could have upgraded after the 2007 season. We didn't. We could have upgraded after the 2008 season. We didn't.

Now we're stuck with the worst quarterback conundrum in the league.

At least you've finally seen the light on the joke that is Jake Delhomme.

[Highlandfire]

I agree with your statement but I doubt Delhomme will be benched. IMO I think he needs it. He has just lost all confidants and his mechanics are horrible. Not bad like in the past but Horrible. They accounted for atleast 3 of the INTs. I just dont see him shaking this off. He didnt do it for a whole Preseason why is he gonna do it in a week.

I agree with you and Mr Scott both. I will also add, Jake had some bad underthrows yesterday which says that elbow will never be what it was again.

Damn, we are stuck with this guy for at least 3 years. No way we can cut a guy we guaranteed 20 million to.

[Mr. Scot]

Scot, don't give this FO an excuse. Jake has not been a quality player since 2005. We could have upgraded after the 2006 season. We didn't. We could have upgraded after the 2007 season. We didn't. We could have upgraded after the 2008 season. We didn't.

Now we're stuck with the worst quarterback conundrum in the league.

At least you've finally seen the light on the joke that is Jake Delhomme.

After 2006, one guy that needed to be replaced was, another wasn't.

The first was Dan Henning. The second was Mike McCoy.

We supposedly upgraded for the 2007 season with David Carr. That didn't go so well (my preference at the time was Joey Harrington, who'd have been better than Carr but still not good enough).

This offseason would have been the right time if there had been an actual upgrade realistically available.

There wasn't. There still isn't.

We have to go with what's on hand. And with McCown hurt, it's Moore for me.