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Play-action will be key in Panthers' downfield attack

By John Donovan, SI.com

Steve Smith Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 Three days until game day Will Tags address foreign policy in his State of the League address? "The ring is the symbol that you are a world champion. But the game is the moment & The game is the real thing for me." -- Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi Patriots QB Tom Brady Q: How can you guys get better in the red zone? A: One-for-seven isn't going to get it done this week. Most of it, as it has been all year, comes down to execution. We haven't done a great job throwing and catching down there. Q: Do you think the Patriots get as much recognition as you deserve? A: Some teams are real flashy. Some guys are always up on the highlights. Everybody loves these offenses that have long touchdowns and the defenses that don't give up a yard. We have a team that may not look as pretty, but we're pretty good in all three phases. Q: This is your second Super Bowl: Enjoying it yet? A: This year I'd say I definitely am. I think a couple of years ago was a little different. You get pulled in a lot of different directions and you're not really sure where you have to be or who you have to see. I'll have a lot more fun on Sunday after the game if we win, I'll tell you that. 1 -- Turnovers for the Panthers in three postseason games, an interception thrown by Jake Delhomme in the Divisional round against St. Louis.

HOUSTON -- At some point in Sunday's Super Bowl, the Carolina Panthers are going to have to hit a big play against the New England Patriots. They'll have to. A team can pound the ball all it wants. And the Panthers will. That's what they do. That's how they got to the Super Bowl.

But to score against the NFL's stingiest defense, the Panthers will have to try to loosen up the Patriots by passing once in a while. It's pretty basic, really. Football 101.

And that's where Jake Delhomme and the play-action pass come in.

It's a beautiful thing when it works, the play-action is. The spin for the handoff. The fake to the midsection. The safety or the cornerback inching up just a bit to go get the running back. The receivers breaking free just long enough for the big play.

But to do it properly, a team has to have at least the threat of a running game. Without that, the safety doesn't bite, the corner stays put and nothing good happens.

The Panthers, of course, have more than a threat of a running game. They have Stephen Davis, who ran for 1,444 yards this season and eight touchdowns. They have DeShaun Foster, too, who gives them the running speed on the edge that Davis can't. And they have their reputation as a pounding, run-first offense.

The Panthers' running game has been so good, in fact, that in the NFC Championship Game against Philadelphia, the Panthers had to throw only 14 times. Delhomme passed for only 101 yards. Still, they beat the Eagles pretty convincingly.

Sunday, the going won't be nearly as easy. The Patriots' plan, which everyone already knows, is to stuff the line of scrimmage and stop the run. The Panthers' plan, which everyone already knows, is to pound the ball into that line until it can't be pounded anymore.

Sooner or later, they'll try to loosen that line up with the play-action pass.

"We use it a lot, depending on how a team is playing us," says Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith. "If they're going to have nine guys in the box [near the line of scrimmage] and are playing us man-up, yeah, we'll use the play action because it makes that corner hesitant."

Says Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest: "Anytime you have a good running team like that, you have to respect it. If they're moving the ball all the time, that just opens it up for that. Everyone just has to play within the system and stay within their job."

If Davis and Foster start moving the ball against the Patriots -- and that's a big if against this New England defense -- then it will be difficult for a player like Patriots safety Rodney Harrison to stay put and not come up to help tackle a running back.

The Panthers put up 317 yards passing on the Washington Redskins. They put up 339 on the Tennessee Titans. Delhomme can, and will, throw the ball. And he does a pretty good job of selling the handoff on the play-action fake, too.

"I think we're pretty good at it," Foster said. "I can remember a few times when the play-action has sucked up a safety."

VIDEO Silver lining SI.com's Michael Silver examines how Carolina can win the Super Bowl.

Getting Delhomme to throw the ball is exactly what the Patriots want. It means, of course, that the Panthers are getting away from what they do best. So if Delhomme is throwing it a lot, it's probably not a good sign for Carolina.

But if the running game is working for the Panthers, enough that a play-action pass or two might work, that might be all it takes. A couple of them might be all the Panthers need to pull off the biggest trick of all -- a win in the Super Bowl.