Falcons to face familiar foe in Jake Delhomme

He may be wearing a different jersey, but few know better what to expect out of Delhomme than coach Mike Smith and the Falcons.

"He's a guy that's played quarterback in the division, so we've played him twice a year," Smith said. "He is a veteran quarterback, and he's familiar with us. It's going to be an issue where we're going to have to study him a little bit from what he did in Carolina because of the limited snaps he has there in Cleveland, but there is familiarity there, that's for sure."

In 12 starts against the Falcons, Delhomme has averaged 224 passing yards, throwing 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. More important, his Panthers teams split those six games with the Falcons.

Most of those games were competitive, with several decided by single-digit points. Delhomme, who led the Panthers to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season, had a tendency to keep Carolina in plenty of games, and Falcons safety Erik Coleman saw plenty of it the past couple of years.

"At Carolina, they had some good weapons," Coleman said. "They had Muhsin [Muhammad] and Steve Smith. Steve was one of the best receivers in the league. He's a tough competitor. He seemed to always give us problems when we played them. That along with their running game made it tough."

Delhomme's replacement the past three weeks -- Seneca Wallace -- is a part of the running game himself, with his ability to move around in the pocket and create space for making throws.

He didn't have Delhomme's experience or accuracy, though, and the Browns went 1-2 with him at quarterback the past three weeks, finally notching their first win last week over Cincinnati.

There's still a chance Wallace plays Sunday, if Delhomme has any setbacks in his recovery from the ankle injury he suffered in Week 1. In one career start against the Falcons in 2007, Wallace completed 17 of 22 passes for 206 yards with two touchdowns, so he has had some success in the past.

Who plays quarterback could certainly affect the Falcons' preparation, given the two players' contrasting styles.

"I know a little bit about Seneca Wallace in terms of his ability to scramble and run ...," Mike Smith said. "I know that [his] skill-sets, at least when Seneca was coming out [of college], are completely different than Jake's. It will create a different issue for our defensive coaches and defensive players."

In his younger days, Delhomme had above-average mobility himself, which was part of what made him such an effective quarterback his first season for the Panthers, in 2003 after being a backup for two seasons in New Orleans.

Between Delhomme's age (35) and his recent injury, it's not likely the Falcons will see much more than a standard pocket passer if they do face him Sunday.

Wallace might be the more versatile player at this point, but there's no doubt who is the more accomplished of the two. Particularly for a team that doesn't have a wealth of veteran leadership. Having someone such as Delhomme on the field could help, even if he doesn't move like he used to.

Falcons defensive end John Abraham said the Falcons are aware of what sort of quarterback Delhomme is now, but he also knows not to underestimate a player with Delhomme's resume.

"Jake is a smart quarterback," Abraham said. "We know he's not mobile as he used to be, especially with his ankle injury. I think he still has something left. We just have to do a good job of pressuring him."