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GLENDALE, Ariz. A regular-season victory could never fully eradicate a playoff loss, but the Carolina Panthers gained a measure of revenge Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals with their best and most spirited performance of the season.
Boosted by three second-quarter touchdowns, a dominating running game, and a Herculean performance by defensive end Julius Peppers, the Panthers beat the Cardinals 34-21 Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.
This was the same Arizona team that came to Charlotte Jan. 10 and put a 20-point whipping on the Panthers to eliminate them from the playoffs. Carolina hadn't been the same since that night until Sunday.
"It's nice that we came and won, (but) we needed it more for the '09 Panthers than to bury something for the '08 Panthers," said quarterback Jake Delhomme.
Just one week earlier, Delhomme and the Panthers suffered a bitterly disappointing loss to Buffalo that nearly cost him his starting job. On Sunday, however, the Panthers did to Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner what the Cardinals did to Delhomme nearly 10 months earlier. Warner was intercepted five times (twice by rookie Sherrod Martin) and fumbled once.
That's precisely the number of turnovers Delhomme had in the playoff loss, an irony that sweetened the Panthers' revenge.
"It was a long time coming," said cornerback Richard Marshall. "A lot of us have been thinking about how they did us last year, so it was great to win today."
Warner said the win could help "kick start" the Panthers season.
"They just outplayed us today," he said. "We didn't bring our 'A' game."
Carolina is 3-4 heading into next week's game at unbeaten New Orleans, which is considered by many to be the NFL's top team.
Arizona, which fell to 4-3, was favored by more than a touchdown.
Delhomme watched the closing minutes of the game on television at a nearby hospital, where he was taken for a CT scan to check for potential internal injuries from a chest injury that knocked him out of the game in the third quarter.
The test results were negative and Delhomme said he expects to play next week against the Saints.
Matt Moore filled in for Delhomme and finished off the win, but was only asked to pass once an incompletion.
The Panthers also had to play the latter parts of the game without both of their fullbacks after Brad Hoover exited with a sprained ankle and Tony Fiammetta sustained a head injury.
Carolina already was playing with only three wide receivers and two tight ends a man down at each position due to injuries last week to Muhsin Muhammad and Dante Rosario.
Despite being shorthanded, the Panthers played with an energy and efficiency that had been lacking since late last season.
It was a textbook win for coach John Fox 44 rushes, 15 passes, no turnovers and six takeaways.
The Panthers rolled up 270 yards rushing, the second highest single-game total in team history, against a Arizona defense that was allowing opponents only 67.5 rushing yards per game, best in the league before the game.
DeAngelo Williams tore off a 77-yard run late in the first quarter and finished with 158 yards, moving him past Deshaun Foster to become the franchise's all-time rushing leader. Williams now has 3,352 yards, 16 more than Foster gained from 2002-07.
Jonathan Stewart added 87 yards on 17 carries, including two touchdowns.
Carolina started the game with a splendid 15-play, 74-yard scoring drive on their opening possession, using up 7 minutes, 38 seconds. Delhomme was 4 of 6 passing on the drive for 35 yards, including a key third-down completion for 17 yards to Dwayne Jarrett. Stewart scored the TD on a 10-yard run.
After the Cardinals answered with a tying touchdown, the Panthers outscored Arizona 21-0 in the second period to take a 28-7 halftime lead. The run was reminiscent of the 27-0 first-half stretch the Cardinals used to torch Carolina in the playoffs last season.
Williams got the streak started with his 77-yard run down the right sidelines, which set up a 6-yard TD run by Stewart.
Moments later, a 50-yard TD pass from Delhomme to Steve Smith upped Carolina's lead to 21-7. It was the first scoring reception by a Panthers' wide receiver all season.
After the Carolina kickoff, Peppers took over. He'd already been putting immense pass pressure on Warner, prompting the Cardinals to set up a short swing pass toward his area of the field that called for left tackle Mike Gandy to put a cut block on Peppers, ideally to drop him to the ground.
Peppers was knocked off balance, but only temporarily.
"He's just such an athletic, good football player that he never got cut and he bounced back up (as) the ball was in the air," said Warner.
Peppers leaped, caught the ball and cruised into the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown return his first score since 2004.
"It felt good to get that," said Peppers. "It didn't feel good because I was scoring. It felt good because it was a big play and a momentum booster in the game."
The Cardinals rallied in the second half to cut Carolina's lead to 31-21 and were driving again until Peppers made another huge play.
On first-and-10 from the Arizona 39, Warner scrambled to his right and ran toward the sidelines. Peppers caught him from behind and sacked him for a 2-yard loss, forcing a fumble that defensive end Tyler Brayton recovered at the Cardinals' 31.
That was just the break the Panthers needed to close out the win. The turnover led to a John Kasay's second field goal of the game. Afterward, teammates were raving about Peppers' performance.
"Man, what can you say about Julius Peppers?" said linebacker Thomas Davis. "All the naysayers, all the people saying this and that about Julius Peppers, you can say whatever you want about him. We love him."
Last week, Peppers emphatically said the Panthers shouldn't be thinking about avenging last season's playoff loss to Arizona, but he took a different approach Sunday.
"I can't sit here and deny that last year's game had a role in motivating some of the guys," he said. "We didn't really say a lot about it, but I think I can speak for a couple of the guys and say it was in the back of our heads and we wanted to get a little bit of redemption. It felt good."
It was also a redemptive day for Delhomme, who had his first turnover-free game of the season. It followed a three-interception performance last week against Buffalo, two of which led to the Bills' only touchdowns in a 20-9 win at Carolina.
"Last week was a low point," said Delhomme. "It was probably the lowest point I've ever had as a Carolina Panther. I did a ton of soul-searching and self-searching. I was looking forward to getting out there and just playing."
After taking a knee on the game's final play, Moore grabbed the football and kept it to give to Delhomme.
"I knew he'd want that one," Moore said.
This week, there is no quarterback controversy in Charlotte. After considering a switch to Moore or A.J. Feeley last week, Fox once again flung his full support behind Delhomme following the big win, saying "Jake is without a doubt our quarterback."
One day in the desert made all the difference.
Charles Chandler: (704) 358-5123 and @CharlesChandler on Twitter.
