CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – The Carolina Panthers have heard every joke imaginable about the way the offensive line played in their first meeting against the Chicago Bears.

The line was like a turnstile, a revolving door, they cleared a wide-open path to quarterback Jake Delhomme.

It’s all true.

The Bears blasted through Carolina’s line for a whopping eight sacks of Delhomme, and just missed bringing him down several other times. Under constant pressure, Delhomme made a pair of poor throws that Nathan Vasher intercepted to set up two Chicago scores.

“It was embarrassing,” guard Tutan Reyes said.

The Bears went on to a 13-3 win and left Carolina stunned at how overwhelming Chicago’s defense really was.

“We knew Chicago was a good team going in there,” said offensive coordinator Dan Henning. “We didn’t know it was as good as it is on defense. We made a couple of errors, and they got ahead. That’s the way they like to play.”

The Panthers know if they’ve got any chance to beat Chicago in Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff, the line has to do a much better job of protecting Delhomme and giving DeShaun Foster a chance to run the ball.

The Bears expect Carolina to come into Chicago with a variation on their original blocking schemes, but defensive end Alex Brown wasn’t so sure it would help. Brown, who had two sacks in the Nov. 20 win, laughed out loud when asked if the Panthers’ line had improved since the first meeting.

“I think they have improved, I think they have gotten better,” Brown said. “They obviously are going to change it up for us because we did have eight (sacks).

“They are not going to do the same thing. If they do, expect the same outcome, that’s all I can say.”

Chicago was the only team that successfully used a four-man front to get after Delhomme, and once is began working, the Bears didn’t give up. Carolina fell behind 10-0 after the two early Delhomme interceptions, and couldn’t run the ball from there.

The Panthers called 46 passing plays in all and ran it a season-low 16 times.

A repeat will certainly be disastrous for Carolina.

Delhomme will have to do his part, as well. And based on his playoff history, he should be better.

Statistics show that Delhomme turns it up in the postseason, where he has a 4-1 record – his only loss in the Super Bowl two seasons ago – and a passer rating of 105.1. His regular season passer rating is a mere 84.5.

Delhomme is the first to admit he didn’t step up against Chicago. When everyone else was blaming the line for making things difficult for Delhomme, the quarterback was taking his share of the responsibility.

Delhomme threw an early interception to Vasher, leading to the only touchdown of the game – a Muhsin Muhammad score to cap an 8-yard drive. His second interception led to a field goal and an insurmountable 10-0.

“I had choice words for myself. I was more apologetic to (the line),” Delhomme said. “I said, Hey, I put us in that situation early on.’ I have trouble when somebody doesn’t take ownership for something they did, pretty much when it’s bad. When it’s good, you deflect credit, when it’s bad, you take the blame.

“That’s the way I was brought up, that’s what I believe in – you take the blame for it and move on. You be a man about it.”

The Bears won’t have the same kind of veteran leadership under center, with quarterback Rex Grossman starting just his second game of the season. A broken ankle has limited him to just six quarters this season, and he hasn’t even played in three weeks.

Since there’s so little tape on him, the Panthers aren’t really sure what to expect. And because he’s attempted only 39 passes this season, he’s still a bit of a mystery to the Bears.

“Everyone has their own opinion on me – how I’m going to play, how good you think I am,” Grossman said. “I’m a pretty confident player. I feel like I can go out there and have a good game. That’s all that matters.”

AP-ES-01-13-06 1439EST