Associated Press
GLENDALE, Az. ó The date was Jan. 10, 2009. Upstart Arizona stunned Carolina 33-13 in Charlotte, sending the Cardinals to the NFC championship game and Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme on a downward spiral that hasn’t stopped.
The teams meet again today, with Arizona riding a three-game winning streak and coming off one of its biggest regular-season wins, 24-17 at the New York Giants.
Delhomme is clinging to his job. He threw five interceptions in that playoff loss to Arizona, and has an NFL-worst 13 this season.
He insists memories of that playoff debacle have been flushed away
Carolina (2-4) is coming off a painful home loss to Buffalo when the Panthers outgained the Bills 425-167 but fell victim to four turnovers, three of them interceptions. Two of the picks came when Delhomme overthrew receivers.
Now he will be facing an Arizona defense that brings blitzes from all directions, something that bewildered Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck and New York’s Eli Manning. Combined, those two completed 29 of 66 passes (44 percent) for 335 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. Arizona had eight sacks in the two games.
“Fast, aggressive up the field and playmakers,” Delhomme said of the Cardinals. “I don’t know any other way to put it. They are a heck of a defense. They play fast. They play aggressive. They fly to the football.”
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Also today, it’s Denver at Baltimore; San Francisco at Indianapolis; the New York Giants at Philadelphia; Miami at the New York Jets; Seattle at Dallas; Cleveland at Chicago; Houston at Buffalo; Oakland at San Diego; and Jacksonville at Tennessee.
Atlanta is at New Orleans on Monday night in a key NFC South matchup.
Off this week are New England, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Washington and winless Tampa Bay.