ARLINGTON, Texas — I like Jake Delhomme. Everybody likes him. He’s honest, enthusiastic and funny. He’s won a whole lot of football games as the Carolina Panthers quarterback.

But it’s time to bench him.
Delhomme and the 0-3 Carolina Panthers lost again Monday night, this time 21-7 to the Dallas Cowboys.
It wasn’t all Delhomme’s fault. Losing a football game is never one guy’s fault. After the loss, Steve Smith rightfully took the blame for running a bad route on the Delhomme interception that got returned for a touchdown late and clinched the game for Dallas.
But the bottom line was this: Carolina was stuck inside its own 25 at that time, because that’s where the Panthers spent the whole second half.
The Panthers managed one decent drive the entire game against a Dallas defense that is mediocre at best. Carolina squandered a solid defensive performance by playing an awful offensive game.
Delhomme ultimately had three turnovers. Sadly, that qualified as his second-best performance in his past four games.
There was more Bad Jake than Good Jake in this one, yet again, and it’s getting old. I have been one of Delhomme’s biggest advocates through thick and thin, but it’s time. The Panthers need to do something dramatic if they want to have any chance of salvaging this season.
So I’d start Matt Moore for Game 4 — Oct.11 at home against Washington. Give the kid a chance. Tell him his bye-week vacation is canceled. Put him in a film room for 80 hours this week. Do whatever it takes to get him ready.
Moore can scramble a little and he’s got a good arm. He doesn’t know the offense like Delhomme does and he’s not the leader Delhomme is, but it’s time to shake things up.
There’s a two-week window here. Moore went 2-1 as a starter in 2007. I’d like to see if he can do that again. (The Panthers of 1995 did a similar thing—losing their first three games, then starting rookie quarterback Kerry Collins and ending up a respectable 7-9).
You don’t think so? Let’s review the Panthers’ six offensive possessions of the second half, shall we?
The first four were three-and-outs followed by punts.
Finally, with less than six minutes left on possession No. 5, the Panthers got an actual first down, quickly followed by the interception where Smith didn’t cross in front of Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman like he should have on a slant route.
Newman happily returned the resulting gift interception 27 yards for a touchdown.
Then came possession No. 6: A Delhomme fumble with a minute to go after he got sacked.
Now Moore might not be the answer. And A.J. Feely is probably not be the answer. But Delhomme, right now, is definitely not the answer.
He’s just not the same guy right now as he was in 2003 when he got Carolina to the Super Bowl. Or in 2005. Or in 2008 before the Arizona game.
He is making so many mistakes that I’m starting not to mind John Fox’s patented draw play on third-and-15, because the alternative too often seems to be Delhomme turning the ball over.
Now I’m not necessarily advocating that Delhomme sit the rest of the season.
Maybe Moore stinks it up against Washington. Then Delhomme might get to come in and be the hero again. Maybe No. 17 needs that, like a struggling pitcher who skips a start just to get his head straight. Maybe that changes everything, and Delhomme starts playing like the confident, headstrong, superb quarterback he can be.
Delhomme had one wonderful drive Monday. He led the Panthers on a 90-yard march in the second quarter, throwing a beautiful 25-yard strike to Dante Rosario for the touchdown. That let Carolina take a 7-0 halftime lead.
But that was it. The offense did nothing in the second half.
And for the second time in three games this season, Delhomme and Smith never could hook up that ESP thing they used to have going so often. When Delhomme and Smith are having problems adjusting on the fly to each other—something they have so often done so well—then everything seems up for grabs.
It’s just not working on offense, and you can’t change everything at once.
Change the quarterback. See what happens.
If it doesn’t work, you can always change back. Delhomme is a big boy. He wouldn’t like it, but he’s a great teammate, and he would accept it.
But 0-3?! That’s unacceptable. Something has to be done. Quickly.