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If you needed any more evidence that the interlinked worlds of John Fox and Jake Delhomme have crumbled this NFL season, you needed to look no further than these words from the Panthers' head coach Monday.
Regarding his current indecisiveness over who would start at quarterback Sunday at Arizona, Fox said in part: "I don't know if status quo is necessarily the answer."
That might sound like a small statement. But for Fox, it represents a big shift.
Fox reveres the status quo. He loves when things stay the same. He has a plan. He decided back in 2003 that his plan included Jake Delhomme as his quarterback, and on that point he has rarely wavered.
I thought Delhomme should have been benched after the Dallas game when the Panthers fell to 0-3 and that Matt Moore should have started Carolina's next game. I still think that should happen this Sunday - that Fox owes it to his improving defense to let Moore have a shot.
After that Dallas game, Fox was adamant that Delhomme would remain his starting quarterback. "I didn't think that was a question," the coach said. "But if that needs to be clarified: Yes, with a capital 'Y.'"
Now, three games later, we're down to Maybe, with a capital 'M.'
Fox said Monday he still believes Delhomme is the best quarterback on the roster (which doesn't say much for the roster). But the coach has obviously had his own confidence rattled by Delhomme's continued descent. The tormented quarterback has thrown an NFL-high 13 interceptions through six games, three higher than anybody else in the league through Sunday's games.
Fox said Monday that the Panthers were "probably fortunate to be 2-4" due to their minus-14 turnover margin. And he's right.
Not all of that is Delhomme's fault, of course, but a lot has been. He has not been the same quarterback since the playoff calamity against Arizona. It's like he suddenly lost his mojo that day and it has never returned.
Will Fox pull the trigger on this move later this week? If Josh McCown was available and not on injured reserve, I'm sure he would.
With just Moore and A.J. Feeley to pick from, I just don't know. It's not in Fox's nature to make a radical switch like that in midstream, just as it isn't in his nature to go for it on fourth-and-2.
But the Panthers went 12-4 in 2008 and are 2-4 in 2009. Fox's job is in jeopardy here just like Delhomme's. Loyalty only goes so far. It's time to make a move, coach.
I think even Delhomme subconsciously realizes it. As he said Sunday after the loss: "I'm certainly not looking to give it (the starting job) up by any stretch of the imagination. But let's be real here. Two big turnovers today really affected us."
Two Delhomme interceptions led directly to Buffalo scores Sunday, and that theme has been shadowing the Panthers all season. Delhomme doesn't just throw interceptions. He throws critical pickoffs, the kind that deflate a sideline like a balloon.
Of those interceptions', Fox said: "It doesn't do a lot for your confidence, I don't care who you are."
Moore may well fail even more spectacularly than Delhomme. Or Delhomme might exorcise his Arizona demons Sunday and play a great second half of the season. Or Feeley might do something good.
It's hard to imagine this turning out well, given the herculean strength of the Panthers' schedule over the season's final 10 games.
But Fox at least is thinking about an end to his "status quo" system at quarterback. That says a lot. It says that the Panthers' head coach has had his confidence shaken. And it says that he is getting a little desperate as he watches his team swirl down toward the drain.
