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When last we saw the Panthers play, all was not well. The quarterback was in a fog, the defense was in a trance and the coach was in over his head.

In the months since, all has been worse. The franchise defensive end wants out, the defensive midsection has been gutted, the team went 0-4 in preseason and the owner has fired his two sons.

And now the Eagles come to town. Things are just getting started.

There have been bigger games for Carolina through the years, maybe even bigger openers, but one doesn't come to mind. In the long and inconsistent history of the franchise, few games have ever loomed as big as this one.

John Fox will stress that it's one of 16 when it's over, and he'll be right. But if Carolina is 0-1 when this one's over, an uneasiness will settle over this franchise just as it has so many times before. In their brief NFL history, the Panthers have gone 7-9 six times. They have never had back-to-back winning seasons.

"Opening day in the NFL is always exciting," Fox said this week. "Everybody is 0-0. For the fans, for the teams, for the coaches -- everybody involved -- the excitement is something new. It's like getting a new car."

Carolina hasn't had a new car since Fox arrived in 2002. And it doesn't have one this year, either. This is the exact car Jake Delhomme drove off a cliff last January. The Panthers got rid of one starter from last year, cornerback Ken Lucas. That's it. Everybody else returned for training camp, which was when the starters started going down.

Through camp and preseason, the team scrambled for replacements on defense, losing every exhibition along the way. The offense struggled accordingly. Steve Smith came back in time to play a little, but Jonathan Stewart didn't. They'll both play today, not in football shape but not in street clothes, either.

Things could be worse. They could have Michael Vick.

Of all the strange things that happened in the offseason, Fox's ridiculous refusal to rule out the team signing the convicted felon was the silliest. As a result, for three weeks the Panthers' name was sullied by ESPN reporters insisting Carolina was one of three or four teams still considering signing Vick. Panthers fans squirmed through the ordeal then exhaled when he became an Eagle.

He'll be in Charlotte today, suspended and in street clothes. The crowd's reaction to him will be interesting, but let's face it, he'll be standing on the far sideline in front of a bunch of bankers dressed in khakis and golf shirts. Panthers fans don't strike fear in the hearts of opposing teams.

Their reaction to Delhomme will be interesting, too. Not when he's first introduced, but when he throws his first interception. The five he threw last January still sting. Nothing concerns Carolina more than the psyche of its quarterback.

That's in part because the offense returns intact from a year ago, and if Smith and DeAngelo Williams stay healthy, the Panthers have a chance to not go 7-9. The defense has yet to adapt to the new coordinator, Ron Meeks, who brought the team-oriented cover-two concept to Carolina. Basically, it's a secondary strategy more than anything else, and the Panthers' secondary is still trying to figure out the nuances. Against pass-happy Philadelphia, it will be a long day if Carolina struggles against Donovan McNabb.

A loss to the Eagles could bring on a long season with a schedule that provides few breaks. In the NFC South, the winner tends to be the team that starts fast and stays healthy into December. That was Carolina last year. The Panthers won their opener in stunning fashion, a road win over San Diego on the final play.

The opener didn't define a 12-4 season for Carolina last year. The opening playoff game at home against Arizona did. This is new ground for the Panthers.

They've come into seasons looking back before, but never with the sort of odd feeling this one carries. Too much happened between 12-4 and now.

First there was the playoff game that made Carolina question its very foundation.

Then the foundation itself began to shake.

No one knows how Julius Peppers will play this year. He wants out, and he's said it. He can't take that back. No one knows how the injuries to Maake Kemoeatu and Jon Beason and Nate Salley and Stewart and Smith will affect the team in the long run. Kemoeatu is out for the year, and Beason is playing hurt.

No one knows if Williams can carry the offense or if Smith can win games by himself, as he did in years past. No one knows if Carolina can build on last season or if the run is over already.

Not all the questions will be answered today, but most of them will. That's how big this game is for everyone involved, players, coaches and ownership. Fox said there's something in the air this week that's been missing throughout the offseason.

"I think everybody turns it up a notch, and there's a little bit higher level of urgency," he said.

Openers are like that. They're all about new beginnings and looking ahead. But the Panthers open the season today looking back and wondering if last January is over or not.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com

DEPTHCHART

OFFENSE

POS. NO. PLAYER HT. WT. COLLEGE

QB 17 Jake Delhomme 6-2 215 La.-Lafayette

12 Josh McCown 6-4 215 Sam Houston St.

RB 34 DeAngelo Williams 5-9 217 Memphis

28 Jonathan Stewart 5-10 235 Oregon

FB 45 Brad Hoover 6-0 245 W. Carolina

42 Tony Fiammetta 6-0 242 Syracuse

WR 89 Steve Smith 5-9 185 Utah

81 Kenneth Moore 5-11 195 Wake Forest

WR 87 Muhsin Muhammad 6-2 215 Michigan St.

80 Dwayne Jarrett 6-4 219 Southern Cal

TE 47 Jeff King 6-3 260 Virginia Tech

82 Gary Barnidge 6-5 247 Louisville

LT 69 Jordan Gross 6-4 305 Utah

74 Geoff Schwartz 6-6 331 Oregon

LG 70 Travelle Wharton 6-4 315 South Carolina

73 Mackenzy Bernadeau 6-4 308 Bentley

C 67 Ryan Kalil 6-2 295 Southern Cal

73 Mackenzy Bernadeau 6-4 308 Bentley

RG 68 Keydrick Vincent 6-5 325 Mississippi

72 Duke Robinson 6-5 330 Oklahoma

RT 79 Jeff Otah 6-6 330 Pitt

74 Geoff Schwartz 6-6 331 Oregon

DEFENSE

LE 96 Tyler Brayton 6-6 280 Colorado

95 Charles Johnson 6-2 275 Georgia

LT 98 Nick Hayden 6-4 292 Wisconsin

94 Louis Leonard 6-4 325 Fresno State

RT 92 Damione Lewis 6-2 301 Miami

94 Louis Leonard 6-4 325 Fresno State

RE 90 Julius Peppers 6-7 283 North Carolina

91 Everette Brown 6-1 256 Florida State

SLB 53 Na'il Diggs 6-4 240 Ohio State

50 James Anderson 6-2 235 Virginia Tech

MLB 52 Jon Beason 6-0 237 Miami

55 Dan Connor 6-2 231 Penn State

WLB 58 Thomas Davis 6-0 240 Georgia

59 Landon Johnson 6-2 232 Purdue

LCB 20 Chris Gamble 6-1 200 Ohio State

21 Dante Wesley 6-1 210 Ark.-Pine Bluff

RCB 31 Richard Marshall 5-11 189 Fresno State

27 C.J. Wilson 6-1 195 Baylor

SS 43 Chris Harris 6-0 205 La.-Monroe

26 Quinton Teal 6-1 187 Coastal Carolina

FS 30 Charles Godfrey 5-11 205 Iowa

26 Quinton Teal 6-1 187 Coastal Carolina

SPECIALISTS

K 4 John Kasay 5-10 210 Georgia

5 Rhys Lloyd 5-11 231 Minnesota

P 7 Jason Baker 6-2 205 Iowa

KR 33 Mike Goodson 6-0 212 Texas A&M

PR 41 Captain Munnerlyn 5-8 186 South Carolina

HOLD 7 Jason Baker 6-2 205 Iowa