Houston ? All the Carolina Panthers wanted was for Jake Delhomme to have a shot at leading them to victory in the fourth quarter. No matter how bad he looked for most of the first three quarters of the Super Bowl, they knew he’d come through when it mattered most.

He did. It just wasn’t enough to top the last-second dramatics of New England kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Despite a go-ahead 85-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad and a 12-yarder to Ricky Proehl that tied it with 1:08 left, Delhomme could only watch helplessly as Vinatieri kicked the Patriots past the Panthers, 32-29, Sunday night.

“I thought he kept us in the game and they kept battling back,” said Carolina coach John Fox, who since taking over two years ago turned a team from 1-15 to the verge of a championship. “Unfortunately, they had the ball last.

“If we had had a little more time, it might have been different.”

When Carolina’s last-chance kickoff return was stopped and time expired without him getting back on the field, the Cajun quarterback stood on the sideline with his helmet off, his hands on his hips, biting his lip.

He was practically in a trance, his eyes red-rimmed, as he watched New England celebrating amid the falling confetti, snapping out of it when Patriots running back Kevin Faulk came by for a quick hug.

Of all the thoughts flooding Delhomme’s mind, there had to be a sense of what might’ve been. After all, he’d missed two-point conversion passes after the first two of Carolina’s three fourth-quarter touchdowns. With one or both of those, everything else might’ve been different.

“I just wanted to watch the celebration and let it hurt even more,” Delhomme said. “In two days when I am going to be complaining and whining, I am just going to keep on working and try to get back here and be on the other side of the rope.”

Delhomme completed only one of his first nine passes, for just one yard, and the offense had minus-seven yards after seven drives. He also was sacked three times in that span, losing a fumble that set up New England’s first touchdown.

But Delhomme recovered to finish 16-of-33 for 323 yards with three TDs and no interceptions.