The time has finally come, after seven months of waiting, we can finally get to watch the 2008 Carolina Panthers in a live, game time situation, tomorrow against the Indianapolis Colts. This will be the first official test for the Panthers this season, and I can’t wait to see how it goes.

First off, Saturday will be the first time Jake Delhomme has thrown a pass during a live game since September of last year, so all eyes are going to be on that right elbow of his to see how it holds up. The recovery progress so far has been great, Delhomme has felt “no pain” in his right elbow, which has been troubling him since 2005. The fact that Delhomme has gotten through 10 days of training camp without a hitch is a great sign that he will be 100% in the season opener.

Before I go on though, I just won’t to say how meaningless these first preseason games are to the starters. It’s most likely that both offensive and defensive starters will only play a series, and what’s more both rosters are going to be depleted because of precautions to injuries. The Colt’s defense is really banged up right now, so moving the ball shouldn’t be a problem, even if the Panthers decided to limit Steve Smith’s playing time. This game, more than the other preseason games is going to give coaches and fans a great opportunity to evaluate second and third string players rather than the starters.

The four guys I’m going to keep my eye on are Jason Carter (he’s had a phenomenal camp so far and has a shot of making the final roster), Gary Gibson (he’s also had a great camp, showing that he has the skills to apply a decent pass rush, something needed at the DT position), Dwayne Jarrett (he’s had a great offseason and could have a breakout year), and Matt Moore. If Gibson can apply some pressure to whoever the Colts quarterback is, and Carter can come up with some good numbers, they could cement their spot on the final roster. It will also be interesting to see how Matt Moore plays after a very good three games last season.

So even if Jake and the offense march right down the field and score a touchdown, and the defense holds the Colts offense to a three and out, don’t get too excited. This is only the first preseason game, there are a lot of starters missing from the Colts, particularly Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison, and it’s only one series.  I can think of a number of good opening series the Panthers have had, most of which were not indicative of how the rest of the game played out.

Most likely Chris Harris won’t play Saturday, as well as Jon Beason. Jonathan Stewart will be a game time decision. Also, the Panthers released T Charles Spencer who they claimed off waivers a few weeks ago.

Tags: colts, Jake Delhomme, panthers