First-Timers Rarely Last Long

Playoff experience, so valuable for an NFL quarterback, is such a dicey proposition. You usually need it to succeed in January, but in order to get some, you’re probably going to have to take a pounding or two from quarterbacks already possessing that essential seasoning.

It’s quite a Catch-22 ... and that’s what Carolina’s defense might have done Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium if Eli Manning had been allowed to throw a few more balls.

As it was, Panther defenders caught three passes thrown by Manning, and also scooped up a fumble by Manning, in a 23-0 rout of the New York Giants. It was an awful day for young Eli, but he wasn’t alone. During wild-card weekend, all four quarterbacks making their playoff debuts lost.

Quickly now, which postseason rookie fared worse?

Jacksonville’s Byron Leftwich, last seen limping in semi-pursuit of New England cornerback Asante Samuel as Samuel toted an interception 73 yards for the final touchdown in the Patriots’ 28-3 victory?

Tampa Bay’s Chris Simms, who couldn’t defeat a Washington Redskin team that set an all-time postseason low with 120 yards in total offense?

Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer, who lasted two plays and one pass attempt Sunday in the Bengals’ 31-17 loss to Pittsburgh, blowing out a knee ligament that pretty much ruined Cincinnati’s first trip to the playoffs since 1990 in the first five minutes?

Or Manning, whose four-turnover nightmare turned the 2005 Giants into the first home team to be shut out in a postseason game since the 1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Answer: Palmer sustained the worst tangible damage, a brutal injury that could alter the course of a just-launched Pro Bowl career, although there’s no telling how long it will take Manning to overcome the psychological damage inflicted by his long dog-day afternoon against the Panthers.

Some stats from the 0-for-4 Gang of Four:

* They combined for six interceptions and a lost fumble.

* They combined for zero touchdown passes.

* They combined to lead their offenses to one touchdown, that by Simms in the third quarter against Washington. (Cincinnati scored all of its 17 points after Palmer was carted off to the locker room.)

* Their teams were outscored, 99-30.

* Intriguingly, their teams lost to a quartet of quarterbacks who each won their playoff debuts. New England’s Tom Brady and Carolina’s Jake Delhomme reached the Super Bowl during their initial postseasons. Washington’s Mark Brunell and Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger were conference finalists in their first playoff runs, Brunell with Jacksonville in 1996.

So it can be done. Brady won the Super Bowl in his first go-round. In fact, he hasn’t lost in the postseason, now 10-0 going into next weekend’s divisional-round trip to Denver. Delhomme is 4-1 headed into Carolina’s second-round visit to Chicago, the lone loss coming against Brady in the 2004 Super Bowl.

The difference with this season’s group of neophytes was that Leftwich was running up against the two-time defending champions, Manning was running up against a team that is 5-1 in NFC playoff games, Simms had a late game-tying touchdown pass dropped in the end zone and Palmer had a former Bengal, nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen, roll over his left knee just after Palmer threw Cincinnati’s first postseason pass in 15 years.

About that pass: It went for a 66-yard completion to wide receiver Chris Henry, who injured his right knee on the play, soon to be sidelined for the remainder of the game.

Just a guess: That was the most expensive 66-yard pass completion in Bengal history.

Jon Kitna, who had preceded Palmer as the Bengals’ starting quarterback, entered the game and looked refreshed enough, driving Cincinnati to 10 first-quarter points and throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a 17-7 second-quarter lead.

But Kitna normally rides the bench for a reason. He was intercepted twice, sacked four times and comically lost his grip on the ball during a crazed third-quarter scramble.

Pittsburgh bided its time and scored the game’s last 24 points to advance to a second-game appointment with the Indianapolis Colts.

All four conference semifinals are rematches of games played during the regular season.

In the AFC, Indianapolis defeated Pittsburgh, 26-7, in Week 12 -- Roethlisberger’s first game back after a three-game injury absence -- and Denver held off New England, 28-20, in Week 6, the Patriots scoring the game’s final 17 points.

In the NFC, Washington beat Seattle in overtime in Week 4, 20-17, after Seahawk kicker Josh Brown ended regulation by plunking a field-goal attempt off the left upright, and Chicago stymied Carolina, 13-3, in Week 11.

Some things have changed since then. Pittsburgh is on a five-game winning streak after winning a road playoff game for the first time in four tries under Bill Cowher. The Patriots have welcomed back many bodies from their midseason injury list and have won five of their last six games. After losing to the Redskins, Seattle went 11-0 before a meaningless Week 17 loss to Green Bay. And since losing at Chicago, Carolina is 4-0 on the road.

In addition to that, here’s one more statistic to make the Bears and their fans a little queasy this week: Quarterback Rex Grossman makes his playoff debut Sunday.