by Ed Hardin , News & Record

Stunning even themselves while sticking to their time-honored precepts of allegiance, the Panthers announced after practice Wednesday that Jake Delhomme would remain the starting quarterback. Only two days after suggesting he was leaning toward benching Delhomme, coach John Fox said he'd decided overnight to stick with his guy.

"He gives us the best chance of winning," Fox said.

Left to explain it himself, Delhomme was more enlightening. "It can't get much worse," he said.

And so the drama moves now to Arizona, completing a circle of sorts as Delhomme will face the team that seemed to start his downfall toward what everyone assumed, until Wednesday, would be the benching of Carolina's marquee player. Fox said he wasn't giving any thought to last year's playoff loss to Arizona, in which Delhomme threw five interceptions and fumbled away a 12-4 season.

Delhomme said it, too. But no one believed either of them, not teammates, all of whom talked about this being an opportunity to bring closure to something that began with the staggering 33-13 loss last January.

Fox has seemed in denial from the beginning on this situation, but what might seem murky reasoning is in fact crystal clear. Matt Moore, the Panthers' backup, has no future with the Panthers . A.J. Feeley, brought in this year for some still unknown reason, doesn't know the plays. Carolina has no money to go find another quarterback. And there's not one out there to begin with.

Thus, the decision that seemed all but made on Monday when Fox suggested as much, changed on Tuesday once the Panthers coach sat down with Delhomme and talked it over. Neither would say what was discussed. But it's safe to say neither of Carolina's backups were consulted.

Before he was interviewed in the locker room after practice, Moore was pulled aside and informed of Fox's decision. It was an odd moment, but a necessary one in that Fox obviously hadn't spoken to Moore about it.

"I'm not surprised," Moore said when asked about Delhomme keeping his starting job. "I'm the backup."

Feeley had earlier admitted he didn't know the playbook as well as Delhomme or Moore. The private discussions between Fox and Delhomme almost certainly included an ultimatum.

Delhomme said he'd rather not discuss that.

This goes back a long way, back to an incident with Keyshawn Johnson in 2006 when Johnson was asked by management to take the blame for an interception Delhomme had thrown against the Eagles late in the year. Johnson refused. He was basically fired for it.

For the past two seasons, almost every interception Delhomme has thrown has come with an explanation, sometimes with the blame going elsewhere. Sunday, the excuses ended. The three picks against the lowly Bills were too obvious to examine. They were all Delhomme.

For seven years, the Panthers have lived and died with their gunslinger quarterback. The irony of having a gambler calling the signals of a conservative, run-based offense never seemed to bother Carolina. In fact, the organization loved the idea while keeping a revolving door of receivers alongside Steve Smith to try and connect with the team's philosophy.

After six games and 13 interceptions, Delhomme deserved to be benched and he knew it. He assumed it, as did everyone else.

But when Fox sat down Tuesday and began penciling in a game plan against the Cardinals with Moore as his quarterback, he couldn't do it. And when he faced reporters Wednesday and started trying to shift blame for Delhomme's shortcomings to other aspects of the team, his voice trailed off. He couldn't do that, either.

Fox had hitched himself to Delhomme's wagon once again, and they'll head out west together this Sunday. This might have been the last major decision Fox will make this year. If it works, and Delhomme somehow saves the season and gets the Panthers into the playoff picture by late December they'll all be heroes. And if he doesn't, and the trend continues, he'll take everybody down with him.

Carolina has stuck by some of its players through the years, even in hard times, though there have been obvious exceptions. Delhomme has been the face of this franchise for seven seasons. He is, arguably, the only face the franchise has ever had, and he said he would fight to the end for his team.

"I'm going to go down swinging," Delhomme said.

And they might all go down together with him.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com

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