Relationships Talk

When Jake Delhomme played in Super Bowl XXXVIII and went toe-to-toe with the mighty New England Patriots as their dynasty was just beginning, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff was only nine years old. Now, 15 years later, Goff will be headed to his very first Super Bowl to face the very same monster that Delhomme tried to slay: The Tom Brady, Bill Belichick-led Patriots dynasty.

15 years ago, Delhomme played a Patriots team that did not have nearly the same mystique that they do now – The sort that makes those unworthy of defeating them quake in their boots and fear defeat rather than seize victory for themselves. And with that experience in mind, Delhomme offered some words of wisdom for Goff, the triggerman of the Sean McVay-led Rams.

Speaking Monday on WFNZ’s Wilson & Parcell, Jake Delhomme stated that Goff should be careful not to “chase ghosts” in preparing for the Patriots’ defense and Belichick’s tricks.

“You’re gonna prepare like always. Everybody prepares themselves to give themselves the best opportunity. But you’re always gonna be (saying) in the back of your mind, ‘What is Belichick gonna throw at us this time? They’re gonna throw out some new wrinkle, they’ll try to take somebody away, they’ll try to do something different that we have not seen on film,'” said Delhomme. “You want to be prepared for it, but you don’t want to kind of paralyze yourself, so to speak, in overthinking. You’ve still got to go out and execute your plays.”

As an illustration of that, Delhomme recalled how the four touchdowns that the Panthers scored against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII were scored off of some of the very first plays that the Panthers had implemented in minicamp leading up to the 2003 season.

“We didn’t reinvent the wheel,” said Delhomme. “We did what brought us to the game. And those plays carried us in that game and gave us an opportunity to win.”

Though the Rams made their way to the Super Bowl via one of the league’s best offenses, their offensive prowess will no doubt be pushed to its very limits by Belichick, who has mastered the art of shutting down prolific offenses in the Super Bowl dating back to his tenure as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. When Belichick contained the Buffalo Bills’ “K-Gun” Offense in Super Bowl XXV, Goff was years away from even being born.

In just his third year in the NFL, Goff faces no small task in trying to defeat the Patriots dynasty. However, he has already conquered a great challenge, going on the road to New Orleans’ Superdome to stun the Saints and deliver their first-ever playoff loss at home under Drew Brees and Sean Payton. With that conquest already in his hip pocket, Goff has shown that he is capable of leading his team to victory against mighty foes. And should he heed Delhomme’s advice, he will have a great shot at vanquishing another.