Embattled Delhomme leads Panthers to victory

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Jake Delhomme left Arizona a winner, even if he had to take a trip to the hospital before he left town.

The embattled Carolina quarterback, whose downward spiral began with a playoff loss at home against Arizona last season, threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith before leaving with a chest injury in the Panthers' 34-21 victory over the Cardinals.

The Panthers, in a turnover-free performance, rolled up 270 yards on the ground against what had been the No. 1 rushing defense in the NFL.

Arizona's Kurt Warner was intercepted five times and fumbled the ball away once. Julius Peppers returned one of the picks 13 yards for a touchdown.

Coincidentally, Delhomme was intercepted five times and fumbled once in the Panthers' 33-13 home playoff loss to the Cardinals in 2008. He had a league-worst 13 picks this season entering yesterday.

Delhomme returned from the hospital, saying the injury was not serious. He described it as a "chest contusion."

After throwing three interceptions in last Sunday's home loss to Buffalo, Delhomme had to wait until Wednesday to find out if he still was the starter.

"To say it was the lowest point I ever had as a Panther, probably," he said. "So after a ton of self-searching and soul searching, I was looking forward to going back out there and play, just play."

Delhomme was 7 of 14 for 90 yards, including the first scoring pass to a wide receiver for the Panthers this season.

Williams rushed for 158 yards on 23 carries, including a 77-yarder to set up Stewart's 10-yard touchdown run that put Carolina (3-4) up for good 14-7 on the first play of the second quarter. Stewart gained 87 yards in 17 attempts.