Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme calls signals in an Oct. 5 game in Charlotte, N.C. Delhomme has the 6-2 Panthers off to their best start in team history.

Charlotte, N.C. ? As a guy who started just two games over his first five NFL seasons before making it big, Jake Delhomme wasn’t going to let the little matter of his elbow disintegrating end his career. He’d come too far.

Now, at the midway point of NFL 2008, the gritty Delhomme is as good as he’s ever been. With a piece of his left hamstring holding his right elbow together, the 33-year-old Delhomme has the Carolina Panthers (6-2) off to their best start in team history. His performance is a good example of what’s become an upside-down year for quarterbacks around the league.

In a season when Tom Brady blew out his knee, Brett Favre changed teams and Peyton Manning has struggled, the comfortable QB hierarchy has been thrown into flux.

Yet statistics reveal there’s perhaps never been more effective quarterback play. According to STATS LLC, NFL passers midway through the season had a combined 61.7 completion percentage, the highest mark since passing statistics were tracked. Only 2.6 percent of passes were intercepted, an all-time low.

How that’s being done varies significantly across the NFL.

Delhomme, Kurt Warner and Kerry Collins are graybeards who have resurrected their careers. A couple of rookies, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco, are leading winning teams.

With Brady out for the season and Favre and Manning far from spectacular, who are the top guys? Drew Brees or Philip Rivers? Or is it Warner? Tony Romo was playing well before he broke his pinkie, sending Dallas into a free fall. And don’t forget about the Super Bowl MVP. Eli Manning is still pretty good – after a rough beginning to his career with the Giants.

There appears to be no good way to predict a QB’s success – and the good times can also be fleeting. Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb was good, then struggled, and now is solid again.

“If there was a formula, people would be rich,” Delhomme said. “I think the biggest thing when I look at a quarterback, I don’t care how tall he is. I don’t care what his arm strength is. Can he move the chains and get you in the end zone? When you walk in that huddle, do those other eyes, do they look at you and do they believe?”

They certainly do in Carolina. Delhomme’s injury last year left the Panthers paralyzed on offense – much like Seattle’s plight this year with Matt Hasselbeck sidelined. Delhomme has returned after ligament-replacement surgery, and suddenly Carolina moves the ball and plays with swagger.

His road to this point has been unorthodox. Delhomme went undrafted and rode the bench in New Orleans for years before leading the Panthers to the Super Bowl in his first season as a starter, he often throws off his back foot and can be overly emotional.

Oh, and he wins – 48-30 as a starter, including the playoffs.

“We all love football, but he really has a passion to play,” Panthers fullback Brad Hoover said.