HOUSTON -- By 10 0'clock Sunday night, we may learn that "Delhomme" is French for "I can't find anybody open!"
We may realize by then that, while John Fox bears a mild resemblance to Bill Parcells, he actually looks even more like John Goodman.
Until then, however, the Carolina Panthers deserve to be fretted over. Every Panther poses a threat; every scenario considered must be seen as worst-case.
As Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel pointed out yesterday after the team went through its first Houston practice at Rice University, "(Delhomme's) been as hot as any quarterback since Troy Aikman in the NFC playoffs with his quarterback rating."
As of 6:30 this morning, the Patriots had been in the Super Bowl for 204 hours. And it's still 132 hours away. All this waiting, preparing and scrutinizing for three hours of activity. The Patriots say this is a business trip. To treat it as such, they must wade through the hype and the premature coronations and not consider possible places in history or they could be history.
"You try to understand that it's part of the whole experience of coming down here," said Vrabel. "You don't really have a choice, and we have everything done and taken care of for us from an administrative standpoint. You get that taken care of and out of the way, then you pack a shirt and jeans. All you're really doing after that is practicing and going to get dinner."
But it's different this time. The kleig lights twisting over this sprawling city are here for the event, yes, but the Patriots are the headliners this time, the ones awaiting coronation. Their name is the one in all caps on the marquee while the Panthers are the underplayed challengers. Carolina isn't necessarily a carbon copy of the 2001 Patriots, but it is a decided underdog, just as the 2001-02 New England team was when it met the Rams in New Orleans.
The Patriots played that role as well as anyone else ever did, and knowing that a team can do that should make them as apprehensive as anyone.
And Carolina is coming out of its corner swinging. Already, some Panthers are talking tough.
"When we walk away from here with a Super Bowl ring on, I really don't care what anybody says," said Carolina linebacker Dan Morgan. "I'm going to have that Super Bowl ring on and I'm going to walk around proud, and you really can't take that away."
Morgan was asked about Tampa Bay defensive lineman Warren Sapp's prediction that the Panthers would overwhelm the Patriots' offensive line.
"I hope he's right," said Morgan. "I hope Super Bowl Sunday comes around and that will happen. I fully expect that to happen."
It is hard to know yet whether the Carolina Panthers are a very good team or a product of an NFC that was bereft of complete teams this season. In these playoffs, they beat a one-dimensional Dallas team, upset St. Louis on missed-tackle touchdown (after the Rams turtled in regulation) and then beat an uninspiring Eagles team that played the second half without its best player, Donovan McNabb.
The Patriots know what those suspicions feel like because they were subjected to them in 2001-02, when some thought they got to the Super Bowl by benefit of an arcane rule in the divisional playoffs and two special-teams touchdowns in the AFC Championship Game.
And head coach Bill Belichick won't hear of the same things said about Sunday's opponent.
"Carolina is the toughest team we've played this year," he said.
The Patriots have said often that this is a business trip. That nothing will dissuade them from treating this as a normal week's preparation for a normal game. They're aware that 14 in a row will mean little if they lose the 15th and are remembered as upset losers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
"We've got a big game, we've got a lot to take care of, and that's what we're here for," said Belichick. "At certain points of the week, we may be able to catch up with friends and family -- we can all do that -- but that's not really why we're here."
