Per NFL.com: Rivera in the doghouse

[Brokenbad]

Source: http://www.nfl.com/n..._content_stream

The football gods don't reward timidity. For all the grief that Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and safety Haruki Nakamura took for the end of the Atlanta Falcons-Panthers game, we still can't shake the feeling that Panthers coach Ron Rivera could have saved them both.

The Panthers are a power running team. They averaged nearly six yards per carry in Atlanta. They could have end the game by converting a fourth-and-1. They punted.

The punt pinned the Falcons back, but that doesn't change the fact that going for it on fourth down was the percentage call. It was the call that would have showed confidence in the Panthers offense. It's a call that should have ended the game.

Yikes....not good to draw attention to yourself on that level....

PS LOL@ the last coach (Danny Crossman) in the doghouse...if you are not a bandwagon fan you will know why that is funny

[IGSaint]

Everyone who wants to say punting was the right decision and the odds were in our favor are just flat out wrong. The odds were in our favor to convert the 4th down, our offense is 5x better than our defense. And I'm glad people in the media are calling out rivera for that stupid decision.

[Sapper]

Wow...Crossman still has a job?

[TheRed]

I lol'd at the Danny Crossman bit at the end of the article.

[The_Mango55]

Oh so it's the meaningless nfl network doghouse (or is it "dawghouse"). I thought this was about Richardson.

[nctarheel0619]

Rosenthal seems to find us intriguing. He always has an article with us in it, so it seems.

[Keep Pounding]

Everyone who wants to say punting was the right decision and the odds were in our favor are just flat out wrong. The odds were in our favor to convert the 4th down, our offense is 5x better than our defense. And I'm glad people in the media are calling out rivera for that stupid decision.

What happened to 4th and 1 during the Saints Vs Panthers game? Remember the fumble, that ended the drive in FG range? So lets see we went for the FG instead, How important would those 3 points be at the end of the the Saints game? Brees had more time then we gave Matt Ryan, just Brees threw a pick to Beason.... Imagine if Brees marched down field and got the 2 pt conversion, You dont think RR was thinking about that 4th and 1 against the Saints, when we were damn near field playing a better defense? Punting was the right call.......

If we wouldn't have got the 4th down conversion, RR would be looking like Mike Smith did last year.....

[IGSaint]

What happened to 4th and 1 during the Saints Vs Panthers game? Remember the fumble, that ended the drive in FG range? So lets see we went for the FG instead, How important would those 3 points be at the end of the the Saints game? Brees had more time then we gave Matt Ryan, just Brees threw a pick to Beason.... Imagine if Brees marched down field and got the 2 pt conversion, You dont think RR was thinking about that 4th and 1 against the Saints, when we were damn near field playing a better defense? Punting was the right call.......

If we wouldn't have got the 4th down conversion, RR would be looking like Mike Smith did last year.....

I would not and I don't think the media would be blaming rivera for going for the the 1st down if it didn't work. It's a gutsy call but in those situations you try to put away the game. You say it worked last time, well it didn't work on sunday's game, sometimes the gutsy decision is the right one.

[NavyPF4L]

No they would still be calling for his head. Not sure if you're just retarded or have a really short memory but we stopped the falcons offense on the drive before as well. It sucks we lost but punting it was the right call. Nakumara however... Eh

[Brooklyn Bully]

I'd like to see stats on how many times Cam had to get a yard or two at Auburn and how successful he was. My guess would be very. I think he would've got it. But it's Seachickens week now. Let's talk about Beastmode.

[ShutDwn]

What happened to 4th and 1 during the Saints Vs Panthers game? Remember the fumble, that ended the drive in FG range? So lets see we went for the FG instead, How important would those 3 points be at the end of the the Saints game? Brees had more time then we gave Matt Ryan, just Brees threw a pick to Beason.... Imagine if Brees marched down field and got the 2 pt conversion, You dont think RR was thinking about that 4th and 1 against the Saints, when we were damn near field playing a better defense? Punting was the right call.......

If we wouldn't have got the 4th down conversion, RR would be looking like Mike Smith did last year.....

You don't understand the how percentages work do you?

Odds of converting 4th and 1(~80%) > Odds of stopping the Falcons from getting in FG range(45%)

I don't get it. The ballsy/stupid move was to punt it. It's purely cognitive bias to see going for it as the riskier alternative. That's not even bringing up the fact that his QB is Cam Newton. He took the ball out of his best player's hands and put in Matt Ryan's.

As for bringing up the Saints game, there are some major differences. First, putting the game in your defenses hands when you're up 8 is a lot better than being up 1 point. How do you not get that? The Falcons only needed to get to the 35ish to have a shot, the Saints needed to score and then some. There's also the fact that the Saints hadn't gone deep at all. The Falcons clearly knew who to pick on the entire game, why would it change in crunch time?

Had we been in position to kick a FG on our last possession we would have. The Falcons needing a TD to win with 50 seconds would've been significantly better odds for stopping them.

[Darth Biscuit]

I personally think we should have went for it... be aggressive, but the punt worked, the defense just didn't...

[PantherTrain84]

How about our D in the doghouse?!? Who in their right (pardn my french) fukin mind wouldnt want to punt, pin them back at their own 1, no timeouts and 53 seconds left to go? Lol, no NFL defense should give up a play like they did

[FirstRoundPick]

Pinning them at the one wasn't guaranteed.