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The Carolina Panthers went counter to their statistical tendencies - and a reputation as one of the NFL's most potent running teams - early in their 24-17 loss Thursday against the Miami Dolphins at Bank of America Stadium.
Trying to polish off what had been an impressive game-opening drive and establish early superiority, the Panthers opted to go with their passing game, an area that's given them problems all season long.
Starting with a first-and-goal at the 7, quarterback Jake Delhomme threw two incompletions and was sacked. The drive ended with a 29-yard field goal and a tenuous 3-0 lead that had evaporated into a 14-3 deficit by halftime.
The Panthers were perhaps hoping to surprise the Dolphins with the three pass calls: Carolina's tendency inside the 10 this season had been to run 85 percent of the time (34 times on 41 plays). And things might have worked out differently had Muhsin Muhammad not dropped a short pass on first down.
"(Miami's defense) may have taken something away from the run game, so we had to (pass)," said left tackle Travelle Wharton, who was beaten by Joey Porter on Delhomme's third-down sack.
Coach John Fox declined to reveal the thinking behind the three pass calls.
"It's like most plays, if we run it and it doesn't work, it's not very good," Fox said.
"If we throw it and it doesn't work, that's not very good, either. But you've really got to do one of the two. The key is executing it, and we didn't execute it as well as we needed to."
The Panthers entered the game ranked third in the NFL in rushing (156.6 yards per game) and have perhaps the top running tandem in the league in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.
The Panthers' passing game, on the other hand, has struggled for much of the season. Delhomme threw 13 interceptions in the first six games and didn't throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver until Week8, when he hit Steve Smith on a 50-yarder against the Arizona Cardinals.
So it was no surprise that the Panthers opened Thursday's game by driving to Miami's 7 by running five times and passing three times (including one incompletion).
Then, the Panthers elected to stay in the air exclusively.
On a first-and-goal, Delhomme threw a short pass in the left flat to Muhammad, who couldn't hang on. On second down, Delhomme threw a low pass on the right side to Steve Smith, who also couldn't come up with it.
On third down, Porter sacked Delhomme for a 4-yard loss. Kasay's field goal gave the Panthers their only lead of the night.
Fox - whose team has now rushed 320 times this season and passed 305 -- said he might have preferred to have called a run on one of those plays, but he wouldn't elaborate.
"I think on one of those, it could have gone either way," he said. "If we had our druthers, we probably could have run it on one (them), not to get too specific (on which one), but we didn't."
Playing from behind after the Dolphins took the lead late in the first half, the Panthers ended up running 27 times - five below their season average of 32 per game. Delhomme threw 42 times (the team was averaging 30 per game).
Williams, who averaged 18.5 carries coming into the game, had 13 against the Dolphins.
"Each one of these (games) takes on a different personality," said Fox. "If you're behind, you tend to throw more; if you're ahead, you tend to run more. I don't think that's a characteristic just relative to us. I think that's probably true across the league."
Carolina would run effectively against the Dolphins, gaining 182 yards on 27 attempts. Williams had 122 yards, but they came on just 13 attempts. Fifty of those yards came on one run in the third quarter.
Delhomme completed 19 of those 42 passes for 227 yards, one touchdown and an interception. His quarterback rating was a sub-standard 60.3.
But Wharton insisted it doesn't matter how the Panthers get to the end zone, as long as they do.
"Whatever is the easiest route for us to score points, let's take it," said Wharton, a guard who is playing in place of the injured Jordan Gross at left tackle.
"If they're taking the run away, let's get the ball to the playmakers (receivers). If they're covered up, we should be able to run the ball."
That's how Williams, who didn't touch the ball on any of those three early plays inside the 10, also sees it.
"Had it been three runs and we had not gotten in, then it would have been the other way around," he said. "Then it would have been, 'Why didn't we pass it?'"
