Delhomme must be saved from himself

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Carolina Panthers' offense was not merely bad Sunday. It was unwatchable.

After the Panthers' touchdown-free 17-6 loss to the slumping New York Jets, I asked fullback Brad Hoover if he has ever been as frustrated by an offense as he is by this one.

Hoover, a Panther for 10 seasons, paused and thought and finally said, "It is hard to remember."

Every New York blitz seemed a surprise. Hey, the Jets sent extra guys. No fair.

To say every Carolina forward pass was an adventure would be inaccurate because adventures are interesting.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme was so bad that even I can't defend him. He threw 34 passes, completed 14, was intercepted four times and was sacked three times.

I asked him the same question I ask Hoover.

"Not close," Jake said about the frustration. "Not close. Not even in the same planet."

The obvious move would be to dump Delhomme and replace him with a Young Quarterback of the Future.

But if the Panthers had a Young Quarterback of the Future, he would have played a month ago.

Although coach John Fox might start 25-year-old Matt Moore at home Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it won't be to showcase Moore's skills. It will be to save Jake from Jake.

Watching Delhomme was like watching a little kid crash his bike. Delhomme would fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up and fall again.

He's fallen, and he can get up. There comes a point where removing a player from harm is humane.

Unless Moore is stellar, the move probably will be temporary. Nothing Moore has done implies that he is Delhomme's heir. Delhomme doesn't have an heir.

Where the Panthers find one depends heavily on who coaches them next season.

But here's what I think happens.

Delhomme returns. The Panthers have invested too much money in him to simply send him on his way.

There's another reason to keep him. Although I know you don't want to hear this, he has been good for this team. He was good until this season, anyway. But when it comes to sports, it's as if we're all in high school. The thing that just happened is the thing that we remember.

The Panthers will bring in a quarterback such as Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins to challenge Delhomme.

Another quarterback wasn't required Sunday on Carolina's opening drive. Four times the Panthers faced a third down. They needed 17 yards and then 10 yards and then 7 yards to get it. They succeeded.

On third and 9 from the New York 39, the Panthers were in their no-huddle offense, which means Delhomme calls the play at the line. He thought Steve Smith was running a slant. Smith thought he was running something else.

Delhomme's pass hit Smith in a bad place - the foot. It bounced into the hands of New York's excellent young cornerback Darrelle Revis, and Revis took it into the end zone.

"I think that was a miscommunication by the receiver," Fox says. "He ran the wrong route."

What a rare burst of candor from Fox. Every other day Fox would say that he needed to see the tape first. On this day, he parlayed a question about the play into a defense of his quarterback.

There is no defense.

Think about it. The Jets, a superior defensive team with a toothless offense, lead 7-0. So what? More than eight minutes remain in the first quarter. The entire second, third and fourth quarters have yet to be played.

Yet seven points are too many to overcome. After opening the game by converting three straight third downs, the Panthers convert only one of their remaining nine.