Is Rivera cutthroat enough to make the tough decisions?

[EgoDogg]

This team has improved all but 1 year he was head coach. It is not as up and down as it has been with even our most successful coach (John Fox). Seeing an upward trend like this is enough for me. He'll continue to grow as a coach and learn.

• 2011 - 6-10
• 2012 - 7-9
• 2013 - 12-4, lost 1st playoff game
• 2014 - 7-8-1 lost 2nd playoff game
• 2014 - 15-1 lost 3rd playoff game (Super Bowl)

[Khyber53]

Ain't nothing broken in how the team is being run, or coached. It took until the Super Bowl before we found a team that was good enough to beat us without it being a fluke.

We've been to the playoffs for three years running and have a stranglehold on the NFC South and will be positioned to be favorites for the NFC going into next year. We have good cap space and some really good young guys who are probably willing to sign here for the long haul. We also have a good core of veteran players who are sharing knowledge with the young guys and we have created a team first mentality in our locker room, rather than a me first one.

We lost the Super Bowl. Get over it. Somebody had to. 30 other teams we knocked out before us. I like our chances for next year.

In my opinion, Gettleman, Rivera, Shula and McDermott have got this. Cam's got this. Luke's got this. A few guys are going to retire, we might lose a couple of good players as they chase paychecks elsewhere. The team will go on and keep being built the way it has been. No giant free agent signings, just solid drafting and picking up quality team players who want to be part of something great.

Buck it up Buttercup and get over the butthurt. We're on to 2016 and hopefully working at making it to Houston next February. We can avenge an old loss there maybe. Quit wanting to hang the guys for getting beat in the championship and look back on what the team really accomplished.

Sustaining what has been built far exceeds the whiny-ass cries of Xbox-tethered Madden coaches. 

[d-dave]

While anyone can say what they want, throw whatever out there on the internets, Rivera & Co. have to have earned at least some of your trust.  3 NFC South, play off wins, NFC Champs, etc. 

Regarding "toughness" of decision making, it's a lot easier to say "plug in player X!"  When there's a lot more that goes into it.  Take Johnson, a team leader, and Jared Allen, one of those HoF type of guys.  Both very established, respected men.  You bench either one for Kony Ealy, and it's going to have an effect on chemistry and attitude.  Rivera has done a very good job of balancing player egos with performance.  

I have no idea how to coach a football team.  I do know a few things about managing teams of competitive, high maintenance divas.  Some people you can tell them bad news, and they will take it like a champ and ask how they can help.  Others will not.  Sometimes it takes a deft, careful hand instead of a 20lb sledgehammer. 

[the_philosopher]

1 hour ago, panthers55 said:

The reason we don't play rookies until later in the year or often until their sophomore year is simple. This offense and defense is complicated to master and requires players to know where to be on every play or we give up a big play. Veterans simply understand the ins and outs of football better and make a quicker adjustment. Vets who have played in the system make fewer mistakes generally.  Rookies play when they show they have better skill and understand the system better. That is why so many rookies played at the end of the season last year. It wasn't just due to injury but they weren't ready until then. Not complicated to understand.

Please don't say things like "not too complicated to understand," which is an attempt to insult another's intelligence. Besides, what you say about the development of rookies doesn't contradict anything I said. In fact, I was not arguing that Rivera should play rookies sooner, only trying to rebut the argument that Rivera's willingness to play rookies at the end of last season is compelling evidence that he does not give unnecessary preference to veterans. It isn't, since the lack of quality players last year explains why so many rookies were playing at that point. 

In actuality, discussions of rookie development have little to do with why a coach would give crucial snaps to guys like CJ and Allen over Ealy (not a rookie) or Harper crucial snaps over Boston (not a rookie). 

Ealy looked to be unguardable Sunday night. Had he started, he could have strip-sacked Manning on the opening drive and changed everything. Who knows? That's why you start and play your best players.

[panthers55]

8 hours ago, the_philosopher said:

Please don't say things like "not too complicated to understand," which is an attempt to insult another's intelligence. Besides, what you say about the development of rookies doesn't contradict anything I said. In fact, I was not arguing that Rivera should play rookies sooner, only trying to rebut the argument that Rivera's willingness to play rookies at the end of last season is compelling evidence that he does not give unnecessary preference to veterans. It isn't, since the lack of quality players last year explains why so many rookies were playing at that point. 

In actuality, discussions of rookie development have little to do with why a coach would give crucial snaps to guys like CJ and Allen over Ealy (not a rookie) or Harper crucial snaps over Boston (not a rookie). 

Ealy looked to be unguardable Sunday night. Had he started, he could have strip-sacked Manning on the opening drive and changed everything. Who knows? That's why you start and play your best players.

First of all this has been discussed many times before so my comment about not being hard to understand is not an indictment of your intelligence but confusion about why you persist to say Rivera is loyal to veterans or won't make the hard calls when there is an easy to understand reason which you continue to argue against.

As to your reasoning he played rookies last year because he had to, that isn't true either. He could have gotten vets like they did this year with McClain and Finnegan instead of going with rookies but they felt that the rookies were ready to play.

You want to know why Ealy didn't start this year? He came in overweight, showed inconsistent effort and was intentionally not the starter during the yesr to teach him a lesson like they did to Norman in the past. They have a long range plan and are willing to sacrifice short term gains for long term success. They made him earn being the starter. Watch next year, Ealy will be a beast and start right away.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article44521401.html