Associated Press

The last time Carolina won a season opener, little-known Jake Delhomme had taken over at halftime for Rodney Peete and led a comeback to kick off a Super Bowl run.

Four years later, a seasoned and more-criticized Delhomme was nearly flawless in the 27-13 win over St. Louis that ended the team's streak of three straight 0-1 starts and quieted talk about backup David Carr taking over.

"He adjusted in the pocket and made some big throws," coach John Fox said Monday. "A couple other instances in the game I thought he did an excellent job of avoiding the rush and making the next best thing happen."

Delhomme was 18-of-27 for 201 yards and three touchdowns. There were no damaging mistakes or interceptions that hurt him last season. His 125.7 passer rating was fourth best in the league.

Steve Smith had seven catches for 118 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown on Delhomme's perfectly thrown ball. Drew Carter caught two short TDs, and DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams combined to rush for 156 yards on 32 carries.

"With this offense, he gets the opportunity to run it the way he wants to run it," Williams said of Delhomme. "It's more open to him this year. He gets to change things. He can call a whole another play if he wants. It keeps the defense off balance and it keeps the offense thinking and moving."