When healthy, Delhomme is on his game

By Darin Gantt - Darin Gantt

CHARLOTTE -- Granted, there have been some pretty big breaks in there, but the fact is, when Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme has been well lately, he's been good.

Delhomme enters today's opener riding the hottest streak of his life, in terms of passing numbers. He's had four straight games with passer ratings over 100.0, with 10 touchdowns and only one interception.

Of course, there was the little matter of the elbow disintegration that sidelined him the last 13 games last season, but prior to that, there's little arguing his success.

The roll began the end of 2006, when he came back after breaking his right thumb at Philadelphia (on the helmet of then-Eagles defensive tackle Darwin Walker).

In his first game back, at New Orleans, he was 23-of-27 for 207 yards, with two touchdowns and no picks for a 123.3 rating. Then at the beginning of 2006, he had eight touchdowns and one pick in three games, with ratings of 125.4, 103.3 and 110.7.

Prior to that stretch, he had never had more than two 100-plus games in a row, though there were some solid months.

In 2004, he hit the mark in four-of-five and five-of-seven games during the second half of the year. Then there was his 2003 playoff push, when his 96.6 rating against St. Louis was his lowest number of the four-game postseason, and the only one which didn't reach triple digits.

Delhomme ranks 17th in NFL history in passer rating (85.23), and he's third all-time in the postseason with his 95.0 mark trailing only Joe Montana (104.8) and Bart Starr (95.6).

• PEPPERS HOT START?: Defensive end Julius Peppers gets to start his comeback season against three straight backups.

The run of opportunities will linger well into the season, however.

This week, with Chargers left tackle Marcus McNeill out with a neck injury, the Chargers will start L.J. Shelton, a former first-rounder on his fourth team in five years. Next week the Bears won't have first-rounder Chris Williams, out for the year with a back problem. That leaves them with John St. Clair, a journeyman with seven career starts protecting the blind side. Minnesota, without the suspended Bryant McKinnie, will throw Artis Hicks at him. Hicks has 49 career starts, all but four at guard.

It gets better.

The following weeks will bring a pair of first-round rookies with dubious credentials. Atlanta's Sam Baker, who many felt was a huge reach, is up next. Most thought he was a second- or third-rounder this year, but with a run on tackles, the Falcons made a move up to get him. He's followed by Kansas City's Branden Albert, who's playing left tackle despite spending his college career at guard. By the way, Albert missed the entire exhibition schedule with a foot injury. Then comes Tampa Bay's Donald Penn, an ordinary blocker the job fell to upon Luke Petitgout's injury-related release.

Peppers won't see his first quality starter until Week 7, when he faces New Orleans Pro Bowler Jammal Brown.

• ON HIS OWN: As much as rookie free safety Charles Godfrey has benefited from the lessons of veteran teammate Chris Harris, coach John Fox said there was a silver lining to Harris' groin injury, which kept him out of most of training camp and all four preseason games.

"Obviously, any veteran back there really helps a young player; I don't care what position, whether it's on offense, defense -- in particularly in the secondary," Fox said. "But it was probably good Chris was out of there (injured) a little bit because it forced Charles to really know it. He didn't have somebody back there telling him what to do and when to make this check and when to move over here or over there.

"So in some ways, it was probably a blessing for him because he hasn't had that guy for the last few weeks, and yet he's performed well."

Godfrey has stood out in camp mainly for not standing out. Despite his inexperience, he hasn't shown the big gaffes in coverage or the run game you might expect from a guy who split time in college between safety and corner.

• EXTRA POINTS: The Panthers are holding their breath at receiver until Steve Smith comes back. They made a run at wide receiver Ashley Lelie last week, before he signed with Oakland. The good-speed, bad-hands receiver went to the Raiders to replace the similarly pedigreed Drew Carter, out for the year with his fourth torn ACL. The Panthers were hoping to bring Lelie in next week, since they didn't want to guarantee his salary for the year, but he opted to go with the sure thing in Oakland.