Delhomme delivers
Back from injury, QB rallies Panthers past Chargers
SAN DIEGO — Their eyes met — the tight end under the goal posts and the quarterback who was moving up in the pocket, trying to keep the play alive.
Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers? Oh no, try Jake Delhomme and Dante Rosario of the Carolina Panthers.
Delhomme came back from an elbow injury with the kind of impact the San Diego Chargers won’t soon forget, throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rosario as time expired to lift the underdog Carolina Panthers to a shocking 26-24 win Sunday.
When he saw the ball in Rosario’s hands, Delhomme felt as if he were replicating one of the most famous celebration scenes in sports history.
“I didn’t know what to do. I think I ran around like Jim Valvano,” he said, referring to the late North Carolina State basketball coach’s reaction to the Wolfpack’s upset of Houston in the 1983 national championship game.
It was an incredible finish to a game that swung wildly with a big defensive play by each team in the second half. For Delhomme, it was a return after missing the final 13 games of 2007 with an elbow injury that required reconstructive surgery.
“Oh man, I don’t know how to put in words. Let’s be honest,” Delhomme said.
After Rivers rallied San Diego with his third TD pass, Delhomme ran the two-minute drill to perfection, moving the Panthers from their 32-yard line to the San Diego 14. Carolina called its final timeout with two seconds left.
On the winning play, five receivers flooded into the end zone. Wanting to move a safety and hit a receiver on a seam, Delhomme pump-faked, then stepped up in the pocket.
“I was just kind of standing there like it was kind of going in slow motion, just looking, looking, looking,” he said. “Then Dante and I kind of caught eyes; he was under the goal posts and I could see his eyes, and I just tried to throw it.”
Chargers linebacker Matt Wilhelm got a hand on the ball “and it just tipped right back into my hand,” Rosario said.
Carolina coach John Fox raised his arms and clenched his fists as the offensive players mobbed each other between the goal posts and the stands.
John Kasay, who had four field goals, added the extra point to set the final score.
“It’s great to have Jake back and you can tell that our offense is operating. Guys want to follow him,” Rosario said.
The Chargers had lost only one of their previous 16 home regular-season games.
“We watched film on them and know what they would do but they also did a lot of things that we didn’t expect,” said Chargers outside linebacker Shawne Merriman.