Why is it all Rivera's fault?

[panfan32]

It's just easier to blame the coach then the team, a lot of people don't even consider that players on this team just aren't very good.

Like Josh Norman, any other team in the league and the dude is on the bench and doesn't play a snap this year and people complain that he's getting benched and not starting??? Lol

True. I was not very high up on him at all this season. And our secondary did better once the staff benched his butt. Just because he played well in training camp does not mean hes a starter. 4 INT in one practice is a nice thing but does it mean he can cover his man or was it a case of right place right time or bad passes by CAM.

[rodeo]

The 2011 offense got exposed. Teams were playing the read option and keeping Newton in the pocket. They doubled Smitty and played tight man on everyone else. That was different than they did last year and it showed. I don't think the offense run last year was much different than what we debuted this year.

The read option wasn't the base offense last year, it was peppered in. Chud tried to run every play out of that formation for the first few games this year.

[carolina-chuck]

Bc when you don't win, you blame the HC. Not the assistants and players, or else Foxy would still be here.

[rayzor]

I think every panthers fan expects a quick turn around because of John Fox and probably a couple of coaches around the league that made that happen. So patiences is thrown out the proverbial window.

That rarely happens by the way.

i think it's expected because teams that can win are doing it quickly lately. it's becoming more common. we just find excuses for not doing it.

[Marguide]

The 2011 offense got exposed. Teams were playing the read option and keeping Newton in the pocket. They doubled Smitty and played tight man on everyone else. That was different than they did last year and it showed. I don't think the offense run last year was much different than what we debuted this year.

I beg to differ:

1) Last year, we were in shotgun just over 60% of the time. This year, at least for the first 7 games, we were in shotgun closer to 85%.

2) Last year, we used 2 TE sets frequently. Early this year, we almost never used 2 TE

3) As stated by others, we relied much more heavily on read option plays early this year. Yes, we used it last year after mid-season, by not nearly as much as this year.

The first Tampa game was a perfect example of what was wrong with our offense. We were in 1/1 formations nearly the whole game, and the 1 TE was typically sent out on a pass pattern along with the 3 wide receivers. Tampa applied consistent pressure, and we didn't have enough blockers to counter. The result? We couldn't run the ball (and frankly didn't even try), and Newton was under pressure the whole game.

That type approach continued almost unabated until Hurney got fired. Then out of the blue, Chud decides maybe he should start to change things up a bit. Funny how that worked. That's why I don't know if I'll ever trust Chud completely.

[rayzor]

The 2011 offense got exposed. Teams were playing the read option and keeping Newton in the pocket. They doubled Smitty and played tight man on everyone else. That was different than they did last year and it showed. I don't think the offense run last year was much different than what we debuted this year.

there were two offenses last year.

the first half of the season was the pass heavy one. when teams keyed in on that and started running more cover 2 (which seemed to work better against cam's passing game than blitzing him), they started running the ball and killing defenses with that. they adjusted what they did. it wasn't about the read option as much as people make it out to be.

[bigdog10]

This team has enough talent to be in the NFC playoff race this year, and potentially be the NFC South champion.

The argument that we don't have enough talent was valid last year, this year it is not.

[csx]

It's not. We several games because of breakdowns in execution as well.

[Mr. Scot]

i think it's expected because teams that can win are doing it quickly lately. it's becoming more common. we just find excuses for not doing it.

Depends on what you want for results.

Want to build a team that can become a contender quickly, but fade just as quickly? That's relatively easy, easy enough that even a guy like Marty Hurney could do it.

Want to change the entire culture and build a perennial contender? That's not quite as simple, and generally takes a little more time.

I'd prefer option two.

[rayzor]

It's not. We several games because of breakdowns in execution as well.

i think most understand that. highlighting rivera's role in it, just like highlighting cam's or the defenses or whatever, to some means laying all the blame on one.

i think rivera does bear more of the burden, though, because it's his responsibility to make sure that they can win with who they have. it's up to him and that coaching staff to put together a plan that fits the personnel if they don't have the personnel to fit their plan.

it's the coaching staff's responsibility to change what they do when what they do doesn't work so that it's something that their personnel can do well. they eventually did, but they did it too late. it's that reluctance to change and adapt that gets some and that helped in us losing games.

the players shouldn't have messed up, but they did. were they coached up enough to carry out the plan the coaches had for them? were they even capable of doing it well? did they do it well? did they adjust what they did to suit the players where they were? these are questions that have to be answered.

the players have their own questions to answer. need to know why they missed assignments. why they were out of position. why they dropped the ball, missed tackles, missed blocks, etc.

rivera has had plenty of mistakes these past two years. has he learned from them? it's up for debate, obviously. the question now is if he hasn't learned enough from them, can he? how long will it take? if he has learned from them, it the ceiling high enough to warrant us not looking at other options? of course you don't just outright fire the guy without looking at other coaches, but with a new GM he has to be able to make his case for remaining in that capacity. i would hope that the new GM doesn't just come in and look at the last few games of the season and say, "meh....he'll do. no need to look elsewhere." he'd be doing this team no favors by not looking at all options.

it could be that better options would be too expensive (though if JR was completely serious about winning he'd have no problems opening up that checkbook) or don't want to come here for some reason. rivera should be retained for another year to see what he can do with a third year. there's lots of factors that would go into the decision. rivera would absolutely have to make his case, though, and i don't think it's a great one.

[rayzor]

Depends on what you want for results.

Want to build a team that can become a contender quickly, but fade just as quickly? That's relatively easy, easy enough that even a guy like Marty Hurney could do it.

Want to change the entire culture and build a perennial contender? That's not quite as simple, and generally takes a little more time.

I'd prefer option two.

i prefer one that people buy into right away and that continues to work. they don't have to be mutually exclusive. you put something together right away that works and then mold your team the way you want. this whole "it's a process" thing just bugs me. how long is that process supposed to take? what's your vision of the end results? can you win and build your vision at the same time? the answer should be yes.

and if that's considered unrealistic, it's only because people think that a good team takes years to build when the evidence is quite to the contrary lately.

[Mr. Scot]

i prefer one that people buy into right away and that continues to work. they don't have to be mutually exclusive. you put something together right away that works and then mold your team the way you want. this whole "it's a process" thing just bugs me. how long is that process supposed to take? what's your vision of the end results? can you win and build your vision at the same time? the answer should be yes.

and if that's considered unrealistic, it's only because people think that a good team takes years to build when the evidence is quite to the contrary lately.

It doesn't have to take forever.

But with that said, I want a guy with a long term plan, not just a quick fix.

That's probably why I like Gettleman as an option over Ross. Older folks tend to be more patient and think long term.

[cbarrier90]

I think every panthers fan expects a quick turn around because of John Fox and probably a couple of coaches around the league that made that happen. So patiences is thrown out the proverbial window.

That rarely happens by the way.

The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins would like a word...

The two best starting seasons in NFL HISTORY for a quarterback and both end in losing seasons while Andrew Luck and RG3 are in the playoffs in their first seasons.

As a Panthers fan, that is infuriating.

[rayzor]

It doesn't have to take forever.

But with that said, I want a guy with a long term plan, not just a quick fix.

That's probably why I like Gettleman as an option over Ross. Older folks tend to be more patient and think long term.

again, i don't know why it has to be either/or.

quick fix and long term plan.

i do think that gettleman is the better pick, but it's got nothing to do with his age or a greater likelihood that he'll have a long term plan than some younger fellow. being older doesn't make you more likely to see the long view.

and considering how long it's been since we've had a winning season and how few actual winning seasons there's been here, patience isn't exactly something that is needed.