ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted January 28, 2014 The Charlotte Observer reports the Panthers have reached out to coach Ron Rivera regarding a contract extension. He's come an awfully long way in one year. Morphing from one of the NFL's most conservative coaches into one of the most aggressive, Rivera turned the Panthers around in what was supposed to be a lame-duck 2013 season, engineering a 12-4 record and first-round playoff bye. Rivera was not handpicked by current Carolina GM Dave Gettleman, but winning speaks for itself. The Panthers went a combined 13-19 in Rivera's first two seasons on the job. Carolina opened 2013 on a two-game losing streak, at which point some observers called for Rivera's firing. They went 12-2 the rest of the way. Source: Charlotte Observer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted January 28, 2014 Panthers signed coach Ron Rivers to a three-year contract extension through 2017. It's been quite a turnaround for Rivera in just one calendar year. He entered the 2013 season on one of the hotter seats, got off to an 0-2 start, but turned things around and went 12-2 over the final 14 games to earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. In his three seasons in Carolina, Rivera holds a 25-24 record, including this year's playoff loss. However, he's led the Panthers to wins in 17 of their last 22 regular-season games. Rivera earned the PFWA Coach of the Year honors in 2013. Carolina should be a force to be reckoned with again in 2014. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BwareDWare94 723 Posted January 29, 2014 lol, and after the Panthers regress next year (much like the Lions did after their playoff season), Rivera will probably be fired in season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sarge+ 3,436 Posted January 29, 2014 I don't see that happening, Bware. They still have Cam to make plays, and their defense isn't going anywhere any time soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted January 29, 2014 (edited) But how they explain not signing back the coach that took his team to 12-4 and to the divisional round in the playoffs? Edited January 29, 2014 by dutchff7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted January 29, 2014 I don't see that happening, Bware. They still have Cam to make plays, and their defense isn't going anywhere any time soon. Yeah, they have the nucleus to be a good team for a while. They have a very strong defense (LUUUUUKE ) and a franchise QB. They just better invest in getting Cam some nice weapons on offense most definitely with Steve Smith getting old. When Smith slowed down in the 2nd half against the Seahawks because of his knee, Cam slowed down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted January 31, 2014 lol, and after the Panthers regress next year (much like the Lions did after their playoff season), Rivera will probably be fired in season. What? Even if we did, they aren't going to fire him mid-season unless its an epic failure and no major injuries accompanied it. I fail to see why we would though. That defense isn't going anywhere, all we need are some playmakers on the offensive side of things. The Lions and the Panthers are nothing alike. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BwareDWare94 723 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Their defense needs an upgrade or two in the secondary, I think, and if they don't get Cam any weapons, they're going to regress because the rest of the South will be stronger. That, and I don't believe in Cam Newton. Not more than I believe in Drew Brees and Matt Ryan, anyway, and you all know how lowly I think of Matt Ryan. I think even the Giraffe will get better. Not better than Cam Newton, but good enough to at least take one from CAR next year. Edited January 31, 2014 by BwareDWare94 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ATL_Predator+ 1,196 Posted January 31, 2014 If the Panthers can't keep Hardy, they may see some regression....that secondary needs help...and they could desperately use another WR. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) Their defense needs an upgrade or two in the secondary, I think, and if they don't get Cam any weapons, they're going to regress because the rest of the South will be stronger. That, and I don't believe in Cam Newton. Not more than I believe in Drew Brees and Matt Ryan, anyway, and you all know how lowly I think of Matt Ryan. I think even the Giraffe will get better. Not better than Cam Newton, but good enough to at least take one from CAR next year. Le sigh. There is no rational reason not to believe in Cam Newton anymore. He is the 3rd fastest QB in NFL history to 10,000 yards. He has put together one of the best three-year starts to a career, statwise, in NFL history. He proved he can be clutch this year, with four 4th-quarter comebacks. He matured exponentially after the first two years. The only possible reason you might be able to give is Skip Bayless drivel: He's not a winner since he is .500 in his career. Of course, that reasoning is stupid. At this point, all you are doing is being silly. Ditto with the Ryan hate. We need a WR and a S from the draft and/or FA. We also have a couple guys coming back from injury. Hardy is the only big-time name we might lose. And Hardy already said he'd take less money to stay in Carolina. We are not going to be the 2012 Lions, lol. Are we going to win 12 games again? I don't know. I'd be frankly rather surprised if we won the NFC South again, as no team has ever done that. (NFC South has never been won back to back, and all four teams have won it three times. Parity.) So we might regress in term of win total, but this team ain't going 4-12. We can easily miss the playoffs in a loaded NFC, but we are going to be competing for a spot, that's for sure. Edited January 31, 2014 by Thanatos19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BwareDWare94 723 Posted January 31, 2014 You are overlooking how easy your schedule ended up being this season. The Panthers had matchups with elite teams 5 times, and two of those 5 times are debatable (Saints). Only once in those 5 games did Cam Newton lead his team to more than 20 points (24 versus NE, whose defense began falling apart in week 1). Otherwise, he scored 7,10, 13, and 17 points in those matchups. 2 of those games were wins (SF, second Saints matchup), but let's be honest for a few seconds, here--how often do you win ANY of those games when scoring so few points? How often is 17 points enough to beat an offensive juggernaut like New Orleans? How often do you win ANY game when only scoring 10 points? Carolina's defense carried them in big matchups. Otherwise, most of their schedule was a cake walk after the bye week. Twice they played the shit show that was Tampa. Twice they played the laughably bad Falcons. Divisional matchups those might be but by God those teams were bad this year. Throw in the Rams, the Vikings, the Jets (late in the season when the Jets fell apart), and the Dolphins (alive in week 17 but a terrible team to be in playoff contention, nonetheless), and you had the perfect season for this Panthers team to finally make their surge, only to be overmatched in the playoffs by a team with better talent and more experience.You've got a nice defense. You've got a nice QB. You've got a nice running game. Don't be fooled into the idea that this team can't regress next year. In 2 years, though? Because this team is in better hands than the Detroit Lions, I think we could be looking at a perennial contender after they experience some growing pains, next year. Not trying to bring you down or anything after your team resurfaces from a handful of years of mediocrity, I'm just saying that we've seen this before in the NFL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seanbrock 1,684 Posted January 31, 2014 The Panthers beat some of the best teams in the league this year. They're no fluke and neither is Rivera. He's been coaching since '97 and has coached under Reid and Jim Johnson and Lovie Smith. He's come to Carolina and brought in his philosophy and got the players who fit in with that philosophy and now the Panthers have an elite defense with an offense that needs some weapons. If the Panthers can get a true number 1 back and some receivers or a TE they could find themselves in very good shape. The NFCS is going to be good though. Something tells me the Falcons will be better but I expect the Bucs to be A LOT better and we already know what the Saints can do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cherry 1,302 Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) I wouldn't say that the Panthers had the easiest schedule, but I think their lack of experience ended up being the downfall. The 49ers have been to NFCCG 3 straight years so it's safe to say they knew what they were doing. The Panthers however, were fresh into the playoffs. They have to have that atmosphere when they play. We saw they can take on teams of elite caliber in the regular season, but now they need to do it in the playoffs. Edited January 31, 2014 by Chernobyl426 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Lol. Easy schedule. Ahahaha. At the beginning of the year we had the #1 most difficult schedule. We played five elite teams... you do realize that is more than most teams play? Their lack of experience didn't matter one whit. There were two main reasons for the loss. 1) It was a terribly officiated game where the refs allowed San Fran to play physical and then flagged the Panthers for the same exact things SF was doing. When you have two physical teams and one is allowed to play physical and the other is not, you are just setting the tone and giving one of those teams a huge advantage. We were doing fine in the first half, then there were five horrific calls and no-calls that occurred. Even with those calls, we still only trailed 13-10, but we had completely dominated the first half. At halftime, Rivera told his team to scale it back. He thought he had no real choice with the way the refs were zeroed in on the Panthers. (I personally would have told them to keep playing physical, and fuck the refs. We weren't going to beat San Fran playing soft, let the refs keep throwing flags.) Harbaugh told his players to keep up the intensity. Why wouldn't he? They weren't getting flagged for it. So the Panthers defense came out flat in the second half because they couldn't play physical. That game was one of the worst officiated games I have ever seen. 2) Despite the terribleness of the officiating, Carolina still can win that game if Mike Shula doesn't call asinine plays inside the five yard line by running into the teeth of the Niners defense. Our OC is awful, and it's a big reason why our offense wasn't the best this year. Bware can blame it on Cam all he wants, but he's being silly. The offense had issues because the OC is dumb as shit and needs to be fired. Edited February 1, 2014 by Thanatos19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) You are overlooking how easy your schedule ended up being this season. The Panthers had matchups with elite teams 5 times, and two of those 5 times are debatable (Saints). Only once in those 5 games did Cam Newton lead his team to more than 20 points (24 versus NE, whose defense began falling apart in week 1). Otherwise, he scored 7,10, 13, and 17 points in those matchups. 2 of those games were wins (SF, second Saints matchup), but let's be honest for a few seconds, here--how often do you win ANY of those games when scoring so few points? How often is 17 points enough to beat an offensive juggernaut like New Orleans? How often do you win ANY game when only scoring 10 points? Carolina's defense carried them in big matchups. Otherwise, most of their schedule was a cake walk after the bye week. Twice they played the shit show that was Tampa. Twice they played the laughably bad Falcons. Divisional matchups those might be but by God those teams were bad this year. Throw in the Rams, the Vikings, the Jets (late in the season when the Jets fell apart), and the Dolphins (alive in week 17 but a terrible team to be in playoff contention, nonetheless), and you had the perfect season for this Panthers team to finally make their surge, only to be overmatched in the playoffs by a team with better talent and more experience. You've got a nice defense. You've got a nice QB. You've got a nice running game. Don't be fooled into the idea that this team can't regress next year. In 2 years, though? Because this team is in better hands than the Detroit Lions, I think we could be looking at a perennial contender after they experience some growing pains, next year. Not trying to bring you down or anything after your team resurfaces from a handful of years of mediocrity, I'm just saying that we've seen this before in the NFL. The Fins beat the Patriots. So did the Jets. If you're going to throw those off as "oh those are division games" then the Falcons and Bucs count. The Rams destroyed New Orleans and Indianapolis. But yeah, when Carolina plays them, they're just an easy opponent. How often is 17 enough to beat an offensive juggernaut like Nawlins? When you have a defense like we do. What you are saying about Cam can be applied just as easily to Russel Wilson and look where he is. I just find your position to be very frustrating. In his first two years, Cam put up tons of stats, but only 13 wins. Now he put up 12 wins in one season, so now its his stats that are the problem. I will take the wins, ty very much. We weren't overmatched by SF at all. In the first half, it was pure domination by the Panthers. The only reason they were ahead at halftime was because of terrible calls by the refs. They let the Niners play physical, and refused to let us play physical. So at halftime Rivera made a mistake and told the guys to scale it back because of the lopsideness of the flags, and then San Fran beat us up in the second half. That's what happens when one team is allowed to play physical and the other is not. That and when one team has an idiot OC who calls running plays into the teeth of the Niners defense inside the five yard line. I'm not sure if you actually watch Carolina at all or if you are just regurgitating talking points here. We do not have a nice run-game. We have the opposite of a nice run-game. Worse, in fact, because we are paying them tons of money. The only reason our run-game looks good on paper is because of Cam's legs. We only had 17 against New Orleans the second time because Steve Smith went out of the game in the first quarter. We have no weapons past him that are capable of being the #1 guy. Look, if the Panthers don't go get a good WR in FA or draft, we will regress. That I can agree with. What I was stating as ridiculous was your statement that we were going to regress so much that Rivera would be fired mid-season. It'd take like a 3-13 season to even consider that. Edited February 1, 2014 by Thanatos19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BwareDWare94 723 Posted February 1, 2014 I just don't think the sum of all pieces is going to be as good on defense, next year. Especially if Hardy leaves, on top of it. I think the Panthers brass is expecting another great season, and I don't think Rivera can deliver unless the necessary steps are taken. I want the Panthers to sign Eric Decker. Fuck Hakeem Nicks--he can't stay healthy. Pursue Decker as much as possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted February 2, 2014 Not sure we have the money. Gettleman has done wonders with our terrible cap space, but not sure how much more he can pull out of the hat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
