Cowards don't win championships. Is Ron Rivera a cowardly head coach?

[hepcat]

We all learned a valuable lesson in Superbowl 52. Cowards don't win championships. Doug Pederson rode aggressive playcalling and a backup QB to a championship over the legendary Patriots, who are also as aggressive as any team. No one has ever accused Bill Belichick of being a coward. The Patriots maximize every second of every game to try and score, and so do the Eagles. Hell, against the Panthers in 2017, they got a penalty on the extra point try and the officials assumed they'd take the penalty on the kickoff. What did they do? Tried for 2 from the 1 yard line. That kind of mentality wins game.

I'll come right out and say it. Ron Rivera is a cowardly head coach. "Riverboat Ron" is a myth. How many times has Ron's cowardly playcalling lose the Panthers games in his tenure as head coach of the Panthers? Just in 2017, there are two glaring examples of Rivera coaching cowardly.

Week 9 vs Atlanta. It's 4th and inches from the Falcons 29 yard line. The Panthers are nursing a 7 point lead against the reigning NFC champs and hated division rival at home. Rivera starts sending out the field goal unit, and Cam starts screaming at Rivera. He refuses to leave the field. The Panthers ultimately go for it and succeed on 4th down. Aggression pays off, Ron. 

 

Week 13 @ New Orleans. The Panthers are losing to the Saints on the road 14-21. They get the ball off a Saints punt at the 20 yard line with around 50 seconds to go in half and two timeouts in their pocket. What do they do? Run two limp dick Christian McCaffrey runs up the middle and go into halftime. Waste of a chance. I don't have a video of this garbage.

I don't have time to go and find all the examples of Ron Rivera being a coward. They are plentiful and obvious and if y'all want to list them below, feel free. Most of the time, when he's been aggressive, it's works and the Panthers win. Every time he's a coward, every time, they lose. Maybe adding Norv Turner will change things. I don't know how aggressive he is. But one thing is certain - COWARDS DON'T WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. 

edit: rephrased some things as to not imply Ron Rivera the man is a coward. This is strictly about his head coaching style.

[dave-o]

2 minutes ago, hepcat said:

"Riverboat Ron" is a myth.

Without question !

 

[NJPanthers12]

Coward is a strong word that goes after him personally. 

 

He is a god awful coach who is incapable of winning his team games.

[tondi]

Any head coach who shuts down his offense any time they go up two scores after halftime should stick to being a defensive coordinator. 

[hepcat]

3 minutes ago, NJPanthers12 said:

Coward is a strong word that goes afte thin personally. 

 

He is a god awful coach who is incapable of winning his team games.

You're right. I can't tell you if he is a coward as a human being. Probably not.

So I'll rephrase and say, is Ron Rivera a cowardly coach? Absolutely.

[*FreeFua*]

Rivera was probably sitting at home stuffing his face with his wife’s home made chimichangas while telling her how big of an idiot Pederson was all game

[Sasquatch]

Only 3 people have more NFL coach of the year awards. Shula the elder, Knox, and Belichik.  Just sayin.

 

 

 

giphy.mp4

[Ace_Aladdin]

Jesus how many “non fans” account are on here.

 

Maybe if DG got him competent offensive talent we wouldn’t have this issue.

[uncfan888]

I don't think he's a coward. I just think he's stuck in an antiquated way of doing things and he won't change. The NFL is evolving and we either need to get with it or find someone else that will

[uncfan888]

Just now, Ace_Aladdin said:

Jesus how many “non fans” account are on here.

 

Maybe if you get him competent offensive talent we wouldn’t have this issue.

Sanjay, stop with the non fan and fake fan bullshit. It's stupid

[top dawg]

This should have been put in one of the other tiresome threads. 

Seriously,  people,  you're disrespectful and unappreciative.  

Why even be Panthers fans any more? 

[Toomers]

 I’ll never understand how we ever won a game in the past 5 years or so? The HC is a “coward” and sucks. The OC was the worst in the NFL. The GM was horrible. Which means all the players he acquired sucked. 

  I can’t imagine how a team with that resume’ ever won a game much less go 51-28-1 with 4 playoff appearances. Baffling 

[rhyslloyd]

That's an excellent word to describe Rivera's coaching style.

[top dawg]

1 hour ago, top dawg said:

I think it's true.  Ron has hopefully fixed one part of the equation. It's up to the new GM to master the other.  

As for conservatism,  sometimes it's just what the doctor ordered,  sometimes aggression is the order of the day.  Situational play calling takes a lot of skill, an intimate understanding of your personnel, and a little luck.  

I think Rivera is a good coach that can be great. I reject the notion and narrative that he's some conservative coward that coaches out of fear.  He's made some questionable calls that have failed to be sure,  but so has every coach.  His biggest issue was a death grip on Shula and a lack of quality personnel at key positions, especially when it mattered the most. He is a good coach though.  He has had damned good seasons despite dealing with oversights by the GM.  If we've had 7-9 or 8-8 seasons,  it!'s due to personnel issues where we should have had mediocre seasons. Rivera has arguably overachieved when you look at what he's had to deal with, and his record is pretty damned good---certainly not that of a team going .500 every year,  in a pretty tough division. Be appreciative! I was willing to dump them all, including Rivera,  if we did have a mediocre season,  but the man just keeps surprising and really deserves a couple of more seasons (at least)  to see if he can get us to the top.