Jake Delhomme reminds you a little bit of Tom Brady. The Carolina Panthers remind you a little bit of the 2001 New England Patriots.
Beware of these Cinderella stories and these Cinderella teams. The Patriots know firsthand how that works. They were it in 2001. They were the team that performed magic tricks and tucks in the snow to beat Oakland in the AFC divisional game, then turned "The Greatest Show on Turf," the St. Louis Rams, into a slow-motion act to win Super Bowl XXXVI. Two years later, the Patriots are "The Greatest Show Period" and they're again headed to the Super Bowl, this time to play an upstart Carolina team with its own feel-good stories.
The NFC champion Panthers, who embarrassed the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field, 14-3, haven't needed a lot of breaks or funky plays to get this far. They have reached the Big Game with the best defense in the NFC, a potent running attack, a quarterback who rarely turns the ball over, and a very good coaching staff.
John Fox, a former defensive coordinator for the Giants (sound familiar?), inherited a 1-15 team and made it 7-9 in his first season and 11-5 this season. He whipped the Cowboys, 29-10, in a first-round playoff game and patiently beat the Rams, 29-23, to get to the NFC Championship game.
It might not be the sexiest matchup -- the Patriots-Eagles would have been all that -- and it's probably not the Super Bowl you predicted back in September. But it'll make for two weeks' worth of compelling stories.
"It does feel like our Patriots team," said Panthers tight end Jermaine Wiggins, a member of the '01 New England squad. "We didn't get any respect all year, and we had to fight for every ounce of it. I tell guys here all the time that we're just like that team. I have nothing but respect for the Patriots and what they've done, and we know we have our hands full. But like I said, nobody's given us much of a chance all year, and we've proven a lot of people wrong."
This Panthers franchise deserves good things. The glory days of the early expansion teams coached by Dom Capers gave way to tragedy in the form of wide receiver Rae Carruth murdering his pregnant wife and running back Fred Lane being shot to death in a domestic dispute. The dignity of the franchise was at an all-time low before Fox, Delhomme, running back Stephen Davis, receiver Steve Smith, and defensive end Julius Peppers revived it.
A lot of players on this team went through the 1-15 season, in which the Panthers lost 15 straight games. The season was topped off by a finale in which the Patriots throttled them, 38-6.
"That was a beating," recalled Panthers defensive back Mike Minter, "and we'll never forget that. That was our lowest."
The Panthers are one of the few teams that can rush four men and get pressure on the quarterback. They had five sacks and knocked Donovan McNabb out of Sunday night's game. Their secondary, led by rookie corner Ricky Manning (three interceptions), covered the Eagles receivers well.
On offense, the Panthers run the ball effectively with Davis (76 yards Sunday night) and DeShaun Foster (60). Foster's 1-yard TD run in the third quarter was an exercise in perseverance, as the second-year back took a pitch right and fought off five would-be tacklers to reach the end zone.
And Delhomme, who threw only 14 times (completing nine for 101 yards and one touchdown), has big-play receivers in Smith and Muhsin Muhammad.
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