Football
Keith Kidd 17y

Delhomme still the key in Carolina

Last season the Carolina Panthers offense struggled because of injuries along the offensive line and the erratic performance of quarterback Jake Delhomme. As a result, the Panthers finished 24th in the league in total offense and struggled to score points in the red zone. There is a lot of excitement in Carolina this season, though, with Jeff Davidson taking over as the new offensive coordinator.

Jake Delhomme Delhomme


Davidson is an extremely bright coach who understands the concepts and designs involved in attacking defenses. The Panthers will design their running game around zone blocking schemes between the tackles, schemes that will allow both DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams to rely on their vision and natural one-cut ability to press the hole and attack downhill between the tackles. They will also simplify their pass protection schemes by identifying the middle linebacker when sliding their protections both weak and strong. This will enable Delhomme to place the Panthers in the best protections when identifying possible hot reads and processing information off the Panthers quick, three-step passing attack.

Another intriguing element of Davidson's complex offense will be the Panthers' screen game. It will become a huge addition to Carolina's offensive attack by using different personnel groupings depending on game situations and based on down-and-distance. Look for Davidson to utilize Foster and Williams along with wide receiver Steve Smith and tight end Jeff King on a lot of different screen concepts to keep defenses off balance.

Despite all the intriguing new schemes, though, the offense is still going to revolve around the performance of Delhomme. His consistency level will determine whether or not the team can compete for the NFC South crown and play late into January.

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