ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -Cheer up, Tony Romo. Jake Delhomme knows exactly how it feels.
Those frustrating interceptions. All the griping fans. The support of teammates that you hope is sincere. A body of work that shows turnovers are just part of the deal, the downside of the go-for-broke style that lifted you from obscurity to Pro Bowler and multimillionaire.
Maybe they’ll talk about it Monday night, during warmups before Romo and the Dallas Cowboys play Delhomme and the Carolina Panthers.
Or maybe they don’t have to discuss it. Both have been around long enough to know the drill.
“When the good comes, it’s too good,” Delhomme said. “When the bad comes, hey, it’s bad.”
“It’s just a part of playing quarterback in the National Football League,” Romo said. “Everybody goes through it. If you haven’t, then you’re probably not a very good quarterback.”
than ever in what also happened to be his first game of the post-Terrell Owens era. There wasn’t much shelf life to that performance, however. In the spotlight of last weekend’s opener of Cowboys Stadium he threw three interceptions, each turning into a touchdown for the New York Giants on their way to a narrow, last-second field goal as time expired.
Delhomme’s season has gone the other way. He opened with his ugly outing, throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble in a wipeout loss to Philadelphia in the opener, then bounced back with a nice performance against Atlanta.
Well, the first 57 minutes were pretty good. But then he threw an interception near the end zone when the Panthers needed a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie the score. It was Delhomme’s fifth interception of the season, matching the five he had in a playoff loss that ended last season. Throw in a pair of lost fumbles over those games and his ugly totals are 12 turnovers in the last 12 quarters.
And that’s not even the worst numbers for Carolina.
After going 12-4 and winning the NFC South last season, the Panthers are in jeopardy of being 0-3 for the first time since 1998, when they started 0-7. While teams rebound from 0-2 to the playoffs pretty often, it rarely happens from 0-3.
her reason this result will be magnified, win or lose.
“We’re sitting here at 0-2, so we can all coach better and we can all play better,” Carolina coach John Fox said. “I’ve started 0-4 and won 11 of the next 12.”
For Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers, the trip to Cowboys Stadium is a case of what might’ve been.
Peppers tried forcing a trade to Dallas over the summer, although it’s unclear how hard the Cowboys tried to make it happen. That was the defensive end’s main leverage in contract negotiations that resulted in a one-year deal, albeit for $16.7 million.
As the quarterbacks know, that kind of money – one-eighth of the salary cap spent on one-53rd of the roster – means expectations are equally out of whack. So having one sack in the opener and being relatively invisible against the Falcons is going to draw the kind of jeers Peppers has received lately.
He could turn that around with a big performance in the Monday night spotlight. It would be a great way to audition for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, especially because Peppers will be a free agent again after this season.
“I really didn’t put too much thought into all that,” Peppers said. “The only people I care about how they receive me are these guys in the locker room, the coaches, my family and friends. … I’m happy being here right now. I’m not going to discuss anything.”
ppers – or anyone who could provide a spark.
After leading the league in sacks last season, with DeMarcus Ware registering an NFL-best 20, the Cowboys don’t have a single one through two games. They haven’t forced a turnover yet, either, a surprising double negative.
Facing Delhomme could be exactly what this unit needs. Then again, facing this unit might be exactly what Delhomme needs.
Dallas struggled against the run in the opener, then was beaten by the pass in the second game. Within those game films there could be enough clues for Carolina to find the right mix of Delhomme and running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to exploit all the weaknesses.
“I think offensively we’re somewhat getting there,” Delhomme said. “We came into the year: run game, run game. But that doesn’t just happen.”
The Cowboys had their best rushing performance in 14 years in the last game, breaking free for 251 yards.
Marion Barber led the way, but hurt his left thigh on his final carry. He’s been limited in practice but is expected to play. If he doesn’t, that’ll mean more carries for backups Felix Jones (who had 96 yards on seven carries) and Tashard Choice.
cky to be on the roster.
After NBC’s boffo ratings for the first regular-season game at Cowboys Stadium, ESPN gets to showcase the $1.15 billion building in prime time.
“I think just the overall spectacle and so forth is over with,” Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. “Now it feels more like home.”
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