Familiar: No matter how you add it up, Delhomme was awful

An epidemic of buyers' remorse spread through recession-ravaged Charlotte yesterday.

The remorse involved quarterback Jake Delhomme, who returned to playoff form.

The most remorseful buyers occupied seats in the Carolina Panthers' football palace, or at least they filled 73,599 seats until midway through the second quarter of a 38-10 debacle against the Philadelphia Eagles. By game's end, there were nearly as many folks at Chick-fil-A, which closes on Sunday.

This was advertised as Opening Day, but it seemed more like Groundhog Day. Delhomme experienced subterranean quarterback blues eight months ago, with five interceptions and one fumble in the favored Panthers' 33-13 playoff implosion against Arizona.

Panthers management treated Delhomme's nightmare with a soothing contract extension, technically through 2014. Here's why the Carolina case of buyers' remorse churned so many stomachs: Imagine declaring your car a clunker, then deciding all it needs is oil and a detail job -- only to drop two cylinders on the way home from the shop.

The Panthers supplied monetary details worth about $26 million over this season and the next two, when the timeline presumably would dictate Delhomme's retirement and the coronation of his young successor.

In the immediate aftermath of the Arizona follies, Coach John Fox reassured stupid skeptics that Jake was The Man. Yesterday, Jake was definitely The Same Man.

The line: one slapped-away fumble that the Eagles pounced on for a touchdown and four interceptions, which Philly converted into two touchdowns and a field goal. Delhomme's first four turnovers led to 24 of the Eagles' 38 points and triggered deep, elongated boos.

"It was frustrating," Delhomme said. "In all honesty, it's not the Arizona thing. It's frustrating today. Practices have been good. I'm throwing the ball well. I felt good."

He denied having a time-released playoff flashback. "You know what? It's so easy for me to say no, but it's true. I haven't thought about that. I really haven't. That's the truth. I can say it didn't, but I didn't play well. I'll tell you it wasn't something that ran through my mind this week, last week, week before last, week before that."

Trailing by 28, Fox sent Delhomme back onto the field, which prompted more boos. The quarterback lasted only one more play.

He had overthrown Muhsin Muhammad on two deep routes, mainly because the 36-year-old Muhammad can't run like the wind any more (or like the breeze, for that matter). On Delhomme's final fling, he left a bomb for Steve Smith way short, allowing cornerback Asante Samuel to field it like a foul pop while fending off an aggressive fan.

The coach finally replaced Delhomme, who completed seven of 17 for 73 yards. His NFL quarterback rating -- the formula for the polio vaccine is simpler and far more logical -- came out to 14.7, which is about as impressive as hitting .058 in the big leagues.

Backup Josh McCown fared worse: eight plays, one completion, one injured knee, one injured foot. The third-teamer, Matt Moore, completed six of 11 passes but was intercepted once.

Anyone relishing a quarterback controversy must first confront the fact that such debates generally require the presence of a potentially effective quarterback. Fox said he sees Delhomme as the likely solution at Atlanta.

"I think we start back with Jake," Fox said. "We've got to go back and evaluate what happened to us. After not seeing the tape, I don't think that it was all Jake's fault."

The coach's double negative doesn't necessarily equal a positive. He just talks circuitously sometimes while in pursuit of a non-answer. He had a blunt answer for the source of Delhomme's misery, however. "The protection," Fox said. "I think it's uncomfortable playing quarterback when you're getting sacked and knocked around."

Fox fingered the offensive line, which he and General Manager Marty Hurney kept fully intact for the first time in team history. Delhomme, a stand-up guy even when he's sprawled across the grass, declined to blame anyone for his problems and lobbied to keep his job.

"I'm not looking for the easy way out, to play somebody else and I can sit on the sidelines and lick my wounds," Delhomme said. "I'd love to be out there. I hope to be out there, and I'm going to go back to work. That's me."

Smith caught just three passes and tried to sidestep the quarterback issue. "I'm not really in the position to comment on something that is outside my pay grade," he said.

Delhomme wasn't the only quarterback nursing wounds last night. Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb strained and spun while scoring the final touchdown, but two Panthers creamed McNabb after he hit pay dirt, cracking a rib. TV cameras focused on the Eagles' suite, where suspended quarterback Michael Vick wore a business suit but couldn't suit up for business.

Delhomme said that people have the right to question his confidence because of his performance, but his competitive answer was to keep throwing while falling down rather than eating the ball.

At 34, he knows the playbook for dealing with media criticism: "Take all the bullets they are going to give you. Swallow the sword. When it's good, it's good. When it's bad, it's bad. Well, it's not good right now. Be a man and get ready to go back to work and try to fix whatever is wrong."

How bad was the opener?

Let's put it this way: Michael Vick, with a quarterback rating of 0.00, had a better day.

lrawlings@wsjournal.com