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Panthers overcome loss of Delhomme to top Falcons

Sep 24, 2007 - 2:11 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Carolina Panthers might have lost a quarterback but discovered their dormant running game.

Despite losing quarterback Jake Delhomme to an elbow injury, the Panthers rallied behind the running of DeShaun Foster to post a 27-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

"Anytime you have a division game on the road it is a big game," Carolina coach John Fox said. "We don't look at records, we look at the tape. It is tough to win in this league and I don't care who it is. Road wins are hard to come by."

Foster made it a bit easier by rushing for 122 yards and a touchdown as the Panthers bounced back from a surprising 34-21 home loss to Houston a week ago. He also caught a 13-yard TD pass from Delhomme.

"The offensive line did a great job," Foster said. "We're going to try to keep running hard."

It was the eighth career 100-yard game for the oft-injured Foster, four of which have come against the Falcons.

"He was a guy that we relied on highly this week," Fox said. "We know what type of game it was going to be and I thought he really stepped up big."

Delhomme hurt his right elbow late in the third quarter shortly after throwing a 5-yard touchdown Jeff King to tie the score at 17-17.

There was no definitive diagnosis on Delhomme, who will be re-evaluated on Monday.

"Something didn't feel right and I strained it," Delhomme said. "It didn't happened that particular play. It happened the series before when I got sacked on third down."

The Panthers (2-1) went ahead to stay on their next possession despite losing Delhomme. Foster capped a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard burst up the middle to make it 24-17 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.

Foster, who had rushed for 116 yards in the Panthers' first two games, surpassed that total against the Falcons (0-3) by averaging six yards on 20 carries.

Delhomme, who had throw for six TDs in his first two games, finished 10-of-18 for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Superstar receiver Steve Smith managed just one reception for 10 yards.

David Carr, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, replaced Delhommer and was 3-of-4 for 56 yards.

"It was good to get out there and it was fun," Carr said. "It was 15 seconds of chaos (as Delhomme came off the field)."

John Kasay's second field goal of the game, from 49 yards out, widened Carolina's lead to 27-17 midway through the final quarter.

The Falcons, who fell to 0-3 for the first time in eight seasons, drove inside the Panthers' 10-yard line in the final minutes, but could manage only a 25-yard field goal by Morten Andersen.

Joey Harrington had a solid game for the Falcons, completing 31-of-44 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns, including a 59-yard scoring pass Roddy White, who had seven receptions for 127 yards.

"I thought we did very well (offensively)," Harrington said. "We improved on some things from the Minnesota and Jacksonville games. ... We needed to make a couple more plays today. When you lose the game, there are always things that can be worked on to get better."

Nonetheless, Harrington dropped to 23-46 as a starter in the NFL.