Anyone who blames Jake Delhomme for this loss...

[HGG]

...is a fool.

Jake played well the entire game. Played better than *MOST* of his teammates on both sides of the ball all game, and then threw one interception on the last real play of the game, on a 4th and 10 (err, GOAL), as three Falcons were about to smash him because none of his receivers were even trying to get away from defenders (just standing in the endzone looking).

He had no choice but to FORCE IT to Steve Smith, who he is used to forcing balls to and having Smith WRESTLE THE BALL AWAY from the defender.

You idiots just don't understand how smart of a pass that was from Delhomme. Any other point in the game, Smith would have came away with it, but that definitely wasn't going to happen when it was needed the most.

Other than the idiotic underhanded lob when he was about to be sacked, Delhomme made smart passes all game and made outstanding throws. Even the throw that Jeff King dropped was a sidearm fling around a defender, and King couldn't even catch it, ruining a drive that could have resulted in points.

Then you had DeAngelo Williams fumble a ball that he normally doesn't fumble, which led to Atlanta's 28th point. All other things remaining the same, if DeAngelo hadn't fumbled that ball, the Panthers would have only needed a FIELD GOAL to win the game, because the score would have been 21-20, instead of 28-20.

Of course the game probably would have taken a different course had Williams not fumbled, but that course could have also been with the Panthers ahead in the end and the Falcons needing to score to win instead of the other way around.

And did I mention that the Defense sucked giving up 21 points in the first half? If they'd have played in the first half like they did in the second, the Falcons might not have been leading at halftime.

Jake threw NO INTERCEPTIONS ALL GAME, and yet the Panthers were still losing, so to say that Jake lost the game because of that interception is the epitome of shortsightedness...if not mental retardation.

You just entered the game prepared to blame Delhomme for the loss before it even began, and you're too rooted into that mindset to see otherwise.

Even the hail mary was thrown perfectly. Dwayne Jarrett was just too unreliable to catch it...as usual. Again, not Jake's fault.

Did I mention that THE PANTHERS WERE LOSING BEFORE JAKE THREW THE INTERCEPTION? Panthers losing before interception = not Jake's fault. Panthers losing after interception = Jake's fault?

So, whose fault was it that they were losing before the interception? Whose fault would it have been had the final pass been an incompletion instead of an interception? Are QBs allowed to throw incomplete passes?

I repeat. YOU ENTERED THE GAME LOOKING TO BLAME DELHOMME FOR A LOSS, and your pregame stupidity got something to make you feel secure in doing so, even though they were behind to begin with because of a pisspoor defense that gave up 21 first half points, and a fumble that led to Atlanta's 28th point...none of which was Delhomme's fault.

But, I guess you can't remember that.

[ChucktownK]

You sure know your football sonny!

Somebody get me my gun!

[ChucktownK]

Even the hail mary was thrown perfectly. Dwayne Jarrett was just too unreliable to catch it...as usual. Again, not Jake's fault.

Wait a second...you're Jakes cousin aren't you?

[guyinchesapeake]

I agree. Jake had a much better game. The fumbles killed us as much as anything else on offense, and the defense just didn't have any answers for Ryan. Special teams gave up too many good returns that put the defense in a bad way. Stats wise, we outgained the Falcons on offense, but we didn't convert any of the turnovers we got from them.

There's more positive than negative to take away from today's game. Spreading the passes around helped a lot. I still wish we'd see more wrinkles on offense, like a reverse or 2. But I feel a lot better after today's game than I did last week's!

[Fiz]

he really didn't play well the entire game. I had seats in the front row of the upper deck in the endzone, so I got to watch it from the angle the coaches examine tape.

Jake was badly missing reads consistently throughout the game. Three were terribly egregious.

On the first pass he forced in to triple coverage to smith, Moose was wide open right behind him for a TD.

On a force to Dante, Steve Smith was streaking wide open down the sideline.

There was one more I remember making a note about that he checked down to for some reason.

Jake's also terrible at pre-snap reads of the defense, but that's nothing new.

also now he's adding mind numbingly bad plays to his repertoire. he should have been benched after that underhand flip rubbish.

so yeah at the end of the day he kinda has okay numbers but that has far more to do with the falcons defense than it does with jake. thanks for reading my post hope it was informative.

[frash.exe]

funny thing is Jake fans will use just the sheer volume of passing yards as reason enough to say "he's still got it".

[monstercat]

I'm pretty sure you could find open receivers on a lot of plays by a lot of QB's that they missed. It's a hell of a lot easier to see this stuff up in the stands than it is on the field, not to mention the fact that you're not getting hit by anybody.

As far as the INT goes, it sure looked to me like Smitty could have been a little more aggressive coming back to the ball as well. As a WR, you're never supposed to let the CB get a better break on the ball than you.

[joemac]

he really didn't play well the entire game. I had seats in the front row of the upper deck in the endzone, so I got to watch it from the angle the coaches examine tape.

Jake was badly missing reads consistently throughout the game. Three were terribly egregious.

On the first pass he forced in to triple coverage to smith, Moose was wide open right behind him for a TD.

On a force to Dante, Steve Smith was streaking wide open down the sideline.

There was one more I remember making a note about that he checked down to for some reason.

Jake's also terrible at pre-snap reads of the defense, but that's nothing new.

also now he's adding mind numbingly bad plays to his repertoire. he should have been benched after that underhand flip rubbish.

so yeah at the end of the day he kinda has okay numbers but that has far more to do with the falcons defense than it does with jake. thanks for reading my post hope it was informative.

cool story bro

[neverlosethefeeling]

Fiz, how exactly do you know what reads Jake is to make on any given play?

Did you also have a copy of the playbook in your lap and a headset on your head? I'm going to say no.

HGG, I agree with you 100%...spot on, man!

[ChucktownK]

Fiz, how exactly do you know what reads Jake is to make on any given play?

Did you also have a copy of the playbook in your lap and a headset on your head? I'm going to say no.

HGG, I agree with you 100%...spot on, man!

How often do you see Jake changing the plays or changing formations on his own? Not very much!

[frash.exe]

you have no right to judge him you aren't playing football blah!

[Carl Spackler]

Let's break it down...people who hate Jake will manipulate anything to prove he sucks...people who like him will manipulate anything to prove he's good. It's realistically in the middle.

[neverlosethefeeling]

How often do you see Jake changing the plays or changing formations on his own? Not very much!

He's not Peyton F*cking Manning.

How often do you read the defense and say "Oh we should do this..." probably not often. Our offensive woes did not cost us this game..let's get that straight, first.

Second, let's quit trying to blame Jake for things he shouldn't be blamed for.

[unicar15]

Im not blaming Jake but I'm sick of watching the same old sh*t every week. I just watched the Giants march down the field on the Cowboys IN DALLAS and kick a winning field goal. Eli completely took control of the game and if they had needed a TD I have no doubt he would have put them in the endzone.

Eli was playing with MARIO MANNINGHAM and STEVE "USC" SMITH. Neither one of those guys are big play receivers. They aren't scary receivers, or guys that are going to beat you with athleticism. But every time they managed to come up with a catch. I'm sick of John Fox, Im sick of our soft ass defense, and yeah even tho Jake played decent today I'm sick of him too. I want Bill Cowher in here running this organization and I want a new QB in the draft.