Who made the decision?

[Mr. Scot]

Panther fans have become maddeningly accustomed to seeing one of the league's best defenses being told to go into a soft prevent mode every time we have a fourth quarter lead.  This consistently means we get to watch opposing teams take advantage and come back on us, often ultimately defeating us or at the very least making the game scarily close.

But on the final defensive series yesterday, something was different.

In need of a "close out", the Panthers defense went into full attack mode, blitzing the daylights out of Vikings quarterback Case Keenum and his already depleted offensive line.  The result: a final drive that went absolutely nowhere.  No late game nail biting, no "Cardiac Cat" theatrics, just a much needed victory secured.

So why the change?

Did the notoriously conservative Ron Rivera manage for just a moment to find his inner "Riverboat" again?

Or did defensive coordinator Steve Wilks say "screw this pansy s--t" and make the decision to amp things up on his own?

There's no real hard evidence that I know of to support either conclusion.  There's circumstantial stuff that Rivera pretty much never goes this route (at least not with McDermott as his DC) and the general talk is that Wilks is more aggressive than his predecessor (analysis of our defensive patterns would seem to support this) but it's ultimately still Rivera in charge, so who can say for certain?

What's your speculation?

What happened at the end of the game yesterday?

[App Panther]

I've noticed we really tighten up with less than 2 minutes to play. But that may be a by product of obvious passing situations. 

[Zaximus]

I'm not sure but I don't want to see prevent unless we're up 21 points or more.    Seriously, stop.   

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, Zaximus said:

I'm not sure but I don't want to see prevent unless we're up 21 points or more.    Seriously, stop.   

Pretty sure we've gone into prevent up by fewer than ten points before (and maybe even less).

[CatTower]

I think it had to do with Minnesota's linemen going down.  Their starting center was already out and then another went down too.

[ecu88]

2 minutes ago, Zaximus said:

I'm not sure but I don't want to see prevent unless we're up 28 points or more.    Seriously, stop.   

Indeed

[JakeDel5674]

Rivera snorted coke before the last drive, and gained some balls.  

[Dex]

9-0 this season when we have a lead at the half. I guess Ron doesn't want to "fix" it if it isn't "broke".

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, CatTower said:

I think it had to do with Minnesota's linemen going down.  Their starting center was already out and then another went down too.

We had more than one series after Reiff went out but didn't go full bore until the very last one.

Beyond that though, why would you only do that with someone hurt?

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, thebigcat said:

just look at dem nostrils...

 

Payton prefers pills.

[Adb6368]

They saw what happened the 2 drives before (1 being bailed out by a drop turning into the Bradberry interception) and realized that... hey, maybe prevent isn't the best idea!

[E CaT PanTHer 2]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Payton prefers pills.

i've actually snorted vicodins before. the stupidest decision ever given the amount of acetaminophen in them.

snorting OC80's is the way to go. comfortably numb! I'm sure Payton's tried both. 

[Mr. Scot]

6 minutes ago, Adb6368 said:

They saw what happened the 2 drives before (1 being bailed out by a drop turning into the Bradberry interception) and realized that... hey, maybe prevent isn't the best idea!

How many drives have we already seen that happen on, though?

Rivera's entire tenure has seen us consistently allowing teams to climb back into games late (the Seahawks playoff game being one of the most blatant examples).

Why would it take this long to figure out?

[Zaximus]

14 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Pretty sure we've gone into prevent up by fewer than ten points before (and maybe even less).

That's what I mean, Ron thinks 7 points is a big enough lead