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Delhomme, Panthers await winless Lions

Nov 12, 2008 - 10:02 PM DETROIT (0-9) AT CAROLINA (7-2), 1:00 pm EST

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- The Carolina Panthers survived the worst game of quarterback Jake Delhomme's career thanks to an inferior opponent.

Delhomme cannot be possibly worse this week, but the same cannot be said of the opponent when Carolina hosts the winless Detroit Lions on Sunday.

The Panthers labored to beat the Oakland Raiders, 17-6, last weekend despite a wretched performance by Delhomme, who threw four interceptions and finished 7-of-27 for 72 yards.

"A W is a W. A long time ago (someone said) there is no such thing as an ugly win," Carolina coach John Fox said. "That's why they call it a team game. I thought our defense had a tremendous effort and we made plays offensively when we needed to, we made enough plays to win."

Carolina improved to 7-2 with the victory and maintained a one-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons for first place in the NFC South.

The only positive Delhomme provided the Panthers with was the only points they would need. Following a turnover by the Raiders, Delhomme threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad for a 7-0 lead just 94 seconds into the contest.

From that point on, Delhomme had just one more completion than interception, but Carolina's defense kept Oakland out of the end zone en route to its third straight win.

The Panthers have surrendered just 14.8 points per game - the lowest total in the NFC and second overall to Tennessee in the league.

"We gave up a lot of yards passing and rushing," Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers said. "I am not exact on numbers, but I was out there and I know we didn't give up a lot of points and that's the main thing that counts."

With rookie Jonathan Stewart hindered by a heel injury, DeAngelo Williams picked up the slack on offense with 140 yards rushing on 19 carries, including a 69-yard scoring run.

That does not bode well for the Lions, who were run over by the tandem of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew in a 38-14 drubbing by the Jacksonville Jaguars. The duo combined for 150 yards and three touchdowns, all by Jones-Drew.

With their top two quarterbacks sidelined by injury, the Lions were forced to start Daunte Culpepper, whom they signed just five days earlier.

Culpepper completed 5-of-10 for 104 yards and an interception before giving way to Drew Stanton. After the game, Detroit coach Rod Marinelli would not commit to a starter against the Panthers, but on Wednesday he said Culpepper will get the nod against Carolina.

"It's a work in progress, but I??m excited, I feel good," Culpepper said. "I think I am making steps in the positive direction, so we're moving forward."