Former Saint Jake Delhomme (pictured) has now been a member of the Carolina Panthers for 7 seasons. In those 7 seasons, he’s played the Saints 4 times in the Superdome, once at Tiger Stadium, and once he watched his team play the Saints while injured. Sunday will be the 7th matchup. In all 6 of those previous games, the Panthers are 6-0 against the Saints. Delhomme has been able to exact revenge on the Saints for letting him go as a free agent in every opportunity he’s had to come back to his home state of Louisiana. The Saints haven’t been able to beat him or their bitter Carolina Panther rivals, and it’s gotten so maddening that the chance to break the streak on Sunday is imperative to capitalize on. We all know the story by now, and we all know we never should have chosen Aaron Brooks over Jake Delhomme. While we also know that we’re now better off with Drew Brees, Delhomme has made us pay dearly for letting him go.
Let’s take a look at how he’s done each year against the Saints in Louisiana:
2003 @ Superdome: 12-27, 148yds, 0 TDs, 0 Ints, 23-20 Panthers win
2004 @ Superdome: 22-29, 294yds, 1 TD, 0 Ints, 32-21 Panthers win
2005 @ Tiger Stadium: 13-21, 176 yds, 1TD, 1 Int, 1 rushing TD, 27-10 Panthers win
2006 @ Superdome: 23-27, 207 yds, 0 TDs, 0 Ints, 31-21 Panthers win
2007 @ Superdome: Panthers won 16-13, Delhomme did not play (injury)
2008 @ Superdome: 14-20, 250yds, 1TD, 0 Ints, 33-31 Panthers win
Now all in all, he’s never set the house of fire with amazing numbers. You can see he’s played average football in these games, but the Panthers have been so good defensively and running the ball that he’s won by playing mistake free football.
His stats for all the games combined:
84-124, 68% completions, 1075 yards (avg of 215 per game), 4 touchdowns (1 rushing) and 1 interception.
You’ll notice that while the touchdowns are actually very low, so are the turnovers, and the completion percentage is very high. 68% competions in Louisiana compared to 59.6% completions for his career, almost 9 points higher. Another mind blowing stat is that he’s NEVER attempted 30 passes in one game against the Saints. Granted the Panthers aren’t a pass first team, but consider that Drew Brees has thrown under 30 times in a game only once this season in 7 games, and only once last season in 16. So how does he have our number? He’s really not doing all that much, he’s just not making mistakes. As much of a turnover machine as he’s been this season and at other times in his career, it never seems to be against the Saints in Louisiana.
Personally, I am sick of Jake Delhomme. I want to beat him so bad I can taste it. What bothers me about him is how demonstrative he is when his team scores, or when the final whistle blows. It seems, at least to me, that he’s more deliberate in his celebratory reactions against New Orleans than he is against any other team. I see him running his mouth and acting like a buffoon any chance he gets. It’s time for the Saints, now that they’re more equipped than ever to beat the Panthers at home, to put him in his place. I want him throwing over 30 times, I want him sacked, I want him turning the ball over, but above all I want him to lose. At this point I don’t care if he throws for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns if it means JAKE DELHOMME LOSES TO THE SAINTS IN NEW ORLEANS. This is long overdue and it needs to happen.
WHO DAT
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