Good ol' Tues. Morn. QB

From ESPN's Easterbrook:



"Monday Night Football" Analysis: Jake Delhomme cost Carolina the Washington game a week ago with a crazy interception heave-hoed into coverage, and cost Carolina the Philadelphia game Monday night with two crazy fourth-quarter interceptions heave-hoed into coverage. The trouble is his backup, Chris Weinke, is 1-15 as a starter, and Carolina carries no third quarterback on its roster. So it's not like the Cats' coaches have a broad range of choices. If you watch tape of the Panthers' Super Bowl season, you'll notice Delhomme was heave-hoeing into coverage then, too. But his luck was good and the passes were usually caught; now the passes are being intercepted. I don't think Delhomme has lost his touch, as the sports-yak world is now saying; I think he's always been forcing the ball into coverage, had good luck for a while, and now his luck has run out. Monday night Jeff Garcia forced a pass to a covered Donte' Stallworth, who made a great play for a 51-yard reception, and the "Monday Night Football" booth crew praised Garcia. Two plays later he again forced a pass to a covered Stallworth, near-interception, and the booth crew slammed Garcia for throwing into coverage. The quarterback's read and throw were nearly identical on both downs. All of us tend to downplay the role of luck in outcomes, wanting to believe merit and effort decide everything. Lady Luck is often the arbiter. As James Garner's Maverick said, "Luck is the lady that I love the best."

Sweet 'n' sour Monday night play: Trailing 7-0, the Eagles faced first-and-goal on the Panthers' 8. Philadelphia lined up five-wide, but Carolina was not in its dime, not expecting a five-wide at the goal line. (Although with the Eagles, you should.) On the right side the tight end ran an "out," then Brian Westbrook ran the down-and-in behind him. Because Carolina didn't have its dime on the field, Westbrook was covered by linebacker Thomas Davis, easily outrunning him for the touchdown. That was sweet. Davis, who played safety in college, wasn't even close to Westbrook when the pass arrived, and a former safety should be able to cover a back out of the backfield. That was sour.

Blocking note: Ultra-enormous Philadelphia tackle Jon Runyan completely outplayed Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers, so Delhomme was hardly the sole Panther to have a bad night. A couple years ago I stood next to Runyan and asked him my standard question for NFL players who seem impossibly large: "What does the sky look like on your home world?" When I asked this of Vernon Davis of the Niners, he smiled and laughed. Runyan just stared at me. Jon, you need to catch up on your science fiction. Lame NFC note: The slumping Panthers play the slumping Giants on Sunday, and hard as it seems to believe, the winner will occupy the inside track for a wild-card slot.

 

Excellent analysis.

 

Spot on. Except for the non holding calls on pep.

 

is runyon not allowed to grab julius's jersey as long as its on the inside of his shoulder pads?