The moral of the story? Play to your strenghts people!!!

I just want to make one thing clear. After all the abuse I've thrown at the Panthers for giving the ball to QB Jake Delhomme, I'd like to point out that Delhomme is not the problem. In fact, Delhomme is a reasonably good QB. I can think of at least 10, probably way more, QB's who have started for NFL teams over the last few years that weren't a patch on him. And that's discounting rookies. The trouble is, Delhomme is not the kind of guy you give the ball to and say "Go win us the game son!" He's the kind of guy you ask to throw a few dropbacks, run some play action with and generally just keep the Defense from zeroing in on your run game. Like Kerry Collins did for the Titans last year. Like Sanchez did for the Jets this last weekend. He's their to compliment the strong running game. The issue is not with Delhomme, it's with the play calling. When you have two running backs of the calibre of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, you don't throw the ball 40+ times a game. You don't even thrwo it 30+ times a game. Let's not forget that last year Williams was third for rushing yardage, 1,515 yds, and if you add Stewarts tally, 836 yds, then they combined for over 2,000 yds. On average Williams carried the ball 5 times less per game than Adrian Peterson and yet racked up a much better average, 5.5yds per game to Peterson's 4.8. The only person with over 100 carries who comes even close to that is Derrick Ward (182 carries, 5.6 per carry). And that's before we get onto Williams's touchdown tally. He led the league last season with 18 rushing TD 's. Tack on another 10 from Jonathan Stewart, who was tied for 8th with Peterson amongst others, and you have 28 TD's generated from the running back position. Turnovers? 2 fumbles. Both by Stewart. (It's worth noting that the league high was 9 by... well, you guessed it. Adrian Peterson). These numbers are solid. What they point to is a one-two punch from the running back position which is unparalleled in the entire NFL. And that's what gets my back up. Why suddenly turn around and abandon what got you into the playoffs last year? Why waste an offensive combo that has the potential to go all the way to the promised land? Last year these two carved Arizona to pieces in the first drive of their playoff game. And then it steadily went down hill as the Panthers tried to lean on the pass, and instead turned the ball over 6 times for the QB position. Now yeah, that reflects badly on Delhomme and it's a game he'd want to forget. But you can't blame the guy if his coaches are determined to thrust the ball into his hands and make him perform miracles. So in summary, it's not Delhomme who should really be worrying about his job. It should be John Fox and Jeff Davidson. That's where the real problems lie. The moral of the story? Play to your strenghts people!!!