GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -
Carolina earned its revenge. To the
Panthers, the boos aimed at the home team by Arizona fans must have
sounded oh so sweet.
Carolina literally ran the Cardinals out of their own stadium in a 34-21 victory on Sunday, amassing 270 yards on the ground against a defense that had been ranked No. 1 in the NFL. It was the second-most yards in Panthers history, trailing only 299 against Tampa Bay last season.
"We knew what they were going to do," Cardinals nose tackle Bryan Robinson said, "and we couldn't stop them."
The Cardinals came in on a three-game winning streak, the most recent win a Sunday night road victory over the New York Giants. A sputtering start to the season seemed ancient history.
But they fell flat against a Carolina team eager to make up for last season's 33-13 home playoff loss to Arizona.
"I can't sit here and deny that last year's game didn't have a little bit of a role motivating the guys," said Carolina's Julius Peppers, who returned an interception 13 yards for a touchdown and forced a fumble.
Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams was among those inspired, gaining 158 yards on 23 carries, including a 77-yarder.
"There was a special interest on this game," he said.
No Carolina player needed a win more than Jake Delhomme.
The embattled Carolina quarterback, whose downward spiral began in that playoff game, threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith before leaving with a chest injury. Delhomme was checked out at a hospital before returning to the stadium after the game.
Arizona's Kurt Warner was intercepted five times and fumbled the ball away once.
Coincidentally, Delhomme was intercepted five times and fumbled once in that playoff loss to the Cardinals. He had a league-worst 13 picks this season entering Sunday.
"It is nice we came in and won but we needed it more for the '09 Panthers than to bury it for the '08 Panthers," Delhomme said.
He played a series after he was hurt, then was taken to a hospital for tests. He said that nothing serious was discovered, describing the injury as a "chest contusion."
After throwing three interceptions in last Sunday's home loss to Buffalo, Delhomme had to wait until Wednesday to find out if he still was the starter.
"To say it was the lowest point I ever had as a Panther, probably," he said. "So after a ton of self-searching and soul searching, I was looking forward to going back out there and play, just play."
Delhomme was 7 of 14 for 90 yards, including the first scoring pass to a wide receiver for the Panthers this season.
The statistics weren't impressive, but he made no big mistakes and the Panthers' punishing ground game did the rest.
"They were a desperate team and they came out and outplayed us," Arizona's Darnell Dockett said. "I have nothing bad to say about them. .. Those running backs did their thing today. They are big-play running backs. Anytime they get the ball, they can score."
Jonathan Stewart gained 87 yards on 17 carries for Carolina (3-4), including touchdown runs of 6 and 10 yards.
Warner completed 27 of 46 for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Two of his interceptions were tipped.
"It just seemed like every time the ball was bouncing somewhere, it went into their hands," he said.
Delhomme was hurt on a hard hit by Dockett and Chike Okeafor with 5:59 left in the third quarter. He got to his knees, then slowly walked off the field, but was back for the next series before leaving for good.
On the bench, he said he began to feel "a little chilly" and "kind of a little weak." That led to the trip to the hospital.
The Cardinals (4-3) remained in first in the NFC West because San Francisco lost at Indianapolis, but Arizona, at 1-3, has lost more home games than it did all of last season.
"It's very disappointing that we aren't playing better at home right now," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We have the same record that we were at this time last year. I still feel like we're a better football team. We just didn't play that way today."
Trailing 28-7 at the half, the Cardinals cut it to 28-14 and 31-21 but could get no closer as John Kasay kicked field goals of 35 and 31 yards in the fourth quarter.
"To come on the road, playing a good football team, one that handled us pretty good in the playoffs a year ago," Carolina coach John Fox said, "it was a big win for a lot of reasons."
Arizona's Anquan Boldin played despite an ankle injury that limited him in practice all week. However, he aggravated the injury in the third quarter, left the game and did not return. He caught three passes to make him the Cardinals' career leader in receptions.
Carolina literally ran the Cardinals out of their own stadium in a 34-21 victory on Sunday, amassing 270 yards on the ground against a defense that had been ranked No. 1 in the NFL. It was the second-most yards in Panthers history, trailing only 299 against Tampa Bay last season.
"We knew what they were going to do," Cardinals nose tackle Bryan Robinson said, "and we couldn't stop them."
The Cardinals came in on a three-game winning streak, the most recent win a Sunday night road victory over the New York Giants. A sputtering start to the season seemed ancient history.
But they fell flat against a Carolina team eager to make up for last season's 33-13 home playoff loss to Arizona.
"I can't sit here and deny that last year's game didn't have a little bit of a role motivating the guys," said Carolina's Julius Peppers, who returned an interception 13 yards for a touchdown and forced a fumble.
Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams was among those inspired, gaining 158 yards on 23 carries, including a 77-yarder.
"There was a special interest on this game," he said.
No Carolina player needed a win more than Jake Delhomme.
The embattled Carolina quarterback, whose downward spiral began in that playoff game, threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith before leaving with a chest injury. Delhomme was checked out at a hospital before returning to the stadium after the game.
Arizona's Kurt Warner was intercepted five times and fumbled the ball away once.
Coincidentally, Delhomme was intercepted five times and fumbled once in that playoff loss to the Cardinals. He had a league-worst 13 picks this season entering Sunday.
"It is nice we came in and won but we needed it more for the '09 Panthers than to bury it for the '08 Panthers," Delhomme said.
He played a series after he was hurt, then was taken to a hospital for tests. He said that nothing serious was discovered, describing the injury as a "chest contusion."
After throwing three interceptions in last Sunday's home loss to Buffalo, Delhomme had to wait until Wednesday to find out if he still was the starter.
"To say it was the lowest point I ever had as a Panther, probably," he said. "So after a ton of self-searching and soul searching, I was looking forward to going back out there and play, just play."
Delhomme was 7 of 14 for 90 yards, including the first scoring pass to a wide receiver for the Panthers this season.
The statistics weren't impressive, but he made no big mistakes and the Panthers' punishing ground game did the rest.
"They were a desperate team and they came out and outplayed us," Arizona's Darnell Dockett said. "I have nothing bad to say about them. .. Those running backs did their thing today. They are big-play running backs. Anytime they get the ball, they can score."
Jonathan Stewart gained 87 yards on 17 carries for Carolina (3-4), including touchdown runs of 6 and 10 yards.
Warner completed 27 of 46 for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Two of his interceptions were tipped.
"It just seemed like every time the ball was bouncing somewhere, it went into their hands," he said.
Delhomme was hurt on a hard hit by Dockett and Chike Okeafor with 5:59 left in the third quarter. He got to his knees, then slowly walked off the field, but was back for the next series before leaving for good.
On the bench, he said he began to feel "a little chilly" and "kind of a little weak." That led to the trip to the hospital.
The Cardinals (4-3) remained in first in the NFC West because San Francisco lost at Indianapolis, but Arizona, at 1-3, has lost more home games than it did all of last season.
"It's very disappointing that we aren't playing better at home right now," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We have the same record that we were at this time last year. I still feel like we're a better football team. We just didn't play that way today."
Trailing 28-7 at the half, the Cardinals cut it to 28-14 and 31-21 but could get no closer as John Kasay kicked field goals of 35 and 31 yards in the fourth quarter.
"To come on the road, playing a good football team, one that handled us pretty good in the playoffs a year ago," Carolina coach John Fox said, "it was a big win for a lot of reasons."
Arizona's Anquan Boldin played despite an ankle injury that limited him in practice all week. However, he aggravated the injury in the third quarter, left the game and did not return. He caught three passes to make him the Cardinals' career leader in receptions.
