Fox gives Delhomme high marks

After watching the film of Sunday’s 27-13 victory at St. Louis, Carolina Panthers coach John Fox sounded – if anything – even more impressed with quarterback Jake Delhomme.

"Any quarterback does a lot better when the timing is right and you have protection," Fox said. "I thought he did exceptionally well on some things, maybe things that were covered early and he threw the ball away a couple times.

"From a coaching standpoint, those are good plays. As a fan you look at it and think, ‘What are they doing?’ He took a potentially bad play and managed it well, causing it to be a no-play rather than a minus-play.

"And then he adjusted in the pocket and made some big throws; the last touchdown to Drew (Carter) being one of those. And (there were) a couple other instances in the game where I thought he did an excellent job avoiding the rush and making the next best thing happen."

Delhomme completed 18 of 27 for 201 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.

Quick hits

-- St. Louis running back Steven Jackson had as much to do with the Panthers’ win as anyone, losing fumbles twice in three plays with the game in doubt in the third quarter. The first led to a Carolina touchdown and a 14-13 lead for the visitors.

He carried 346 times last season and lost only two fumbles.

-- The 68-yard bomb Delhomme threw to Steve Smith in the third quarter was the ninth time they had connected for gains of 60 or more yards.

-- Fox said there were no injuries of note for the Panthers.

-- Receiver Drew Carter’s two scores give him six for his career. With 36 catches, he’s averaging a score every six receptions.

-- Stan Olson