Cam Newton victory speech vs Saints

[rayzor]

I think what pisses me off about your stance on our current situation (the team) is that I feel like you have betrayed yourself; and in effect the die hards such as myself. It's almost as if someone offered you a sip from the stupid cup, and you chugged it.

I see what you're point of view is in its entirety. You are correct (as usual) in a lot of your analysis, but i think that you have the blinders on at the moment... And it's unlike you. Sorry for lashing out at you, I just expect more from you than the average poster here.

i'm not a blind homer. i have faith when i see a reason for it. when i cease seeing that reason, then i lose faith.

i believed at the beginning of the season that we'd continue the progress made at the end. i thought that we'd pick the offense up where we left off. i thought we'd see rivera figuring out how to manage a game. i saw no reason to believe that. in fact i said that we'd have a top 15 defense by the end of the year and potentially a top 10 defense to match our top 5 offense. and people laughed and for most of the season they had a reason to. in fact one clown kept on bringing it up over and over trying to rub it in my face under the impression it actually bothers me when i'm wrong when i'm actually quite used to it and am surprised only in those rare moments it sounds like i know what i'm talking about...but anyway...

what i didn't count on was the coaching staff going full moron on us for most of the season. i didn't count on the clusterf*ck the season became and what i saw was a team that couldn't close games. players were screwing up. the coaches were calling plays in that essentially gave the game away.

the end result being the same as many other seasons before. we don't show up until the end of the season when it ceases to matter except in giving the players and fans a reason to believe that next year things will be better and coaches another year to get a paycheck.

i loved seeing the wins. i love seeing the team get along and supporting their coach. i'm just not buying what they are trying to sell right now. i've seen old john fox era 2007-2009 v.2 and i'm not happy.

i want to see true commitment. i want to see accountability. i want to see a culture change and i don't want to wait another few years to see it. i'm not going to. i'm tired of the same ol same ol. i'll believe it's a new era when they show me it is by winning games early and often. i'll see it when we get in the playoffs. i'll see it when we have back to back winning seasons. until they do, i'm not drinking the koolaid or putting on those homer goggles again.

[SIGCHI222]

I figuratively went to Panther Preschool, Panther Elementary School, Panther Middle School, Panther High School and Panther University.

My grades were average at best but I am Panther born and Panther bred, and when I die, I'll be a Panther dead.

You guys can shitake all over this team and the FO all you want. I am a proud, loyal fan and called for Rivera's head, called for DLo to be cut...I can complain with the best of you. But a decision has been made and I for one will support it until circumstances dictate otherwise. If the players of this team are behind Rivera, I am behind Rivera.

I would hope that the "Huddle Family" I enjoyed so much last off-season can get past this. This site went from being more fun than free porn to a constant pissing contest.

Let's get back to what we do best...hating on Alejandro, Kilgo and Pickles.

And tittays.

[Fan01]

I really think Rivera is learning how to be a head coach. From what I've seen in his past he's a great x's and o's guy on defense. His trouble has come from a management standpoint. I see a lot of similarities between him and Cam learning how to do a job they're new at, NFL head coach and QB.

Cam gotten better at...

1. Being a leader with more that just his play on the field.

2. His sideline demeanor.

3. How he interacts with his teammates during a game.

4. Learning how to take what the game is giving you and playing team ball. Check downs, leaning on the running game, etc.

Ron has gotten better at...

1. Interacting with his players during the game.

2. Reigning in and managing his coordinators. I think before he wasn't as hands on and involved or overseeing the things he needed to be involved it. Basically learned how much more control he needs to take as a head coach.

3. Being more aggressive.

4. Letting out some of that emotion.

What makes a man is adversity and we didn't really face that in his first year as a head coach because it was his first year and we had a rookie QB and no offseason. He let his guys have a lot of rope and it seemed to be working. During the off season Chud gets his mad scientist mojo going thinking the league is already going more spread and he's going to jump ahead of the curve with a QB who was fantastic in college at running that system. Turns out the old adage about that crap not working as well in the NFL is right. Ron was very slow in responding because he'd allowed/set up the Panthers environment that allowed Chud and special teams to continue to try and turn it around. By the time Ron realized his error in management style and environment it was too late but like the a good leader he took the bull by the horns and starting throwing his weight around.

He kept the team motivated. He started to take a hard lead and make the decisions he thought were right instead of trying to placate other coordinators, GM's or even the owner. I really think he woke up and realized what needed to be done. He then devised a plan and headed it down and did everything he could to make sure his wishes were carried out.

I'm really looking forward to next year because unlike the end of the year last year this team really understands what it has and what it needs to do in order to win. We won't see dominance of Chud's trick plays or Cam carrying the team on his shoulders next year. We won't see Rivera leaving the game up to his coordinators if the ship needs a strong hand. A defensive coordinator turned into a had coach over the last 5-6 games and I can't wait for next year.

[frash.exe]

Feel free to disagree, but if you watched the video and saw how the players reacted to Rivera and then saw all the tweets from the players today regarding the news that Rivera would be returning, you might think differently.

charles johnson ‏@randywattson

Chico run Chico run #CoachRivera

charles johnson ‏@randywattson

Heyyyyyyy

[frash.exe]

none of that means anything if they don't win next year. if they aren't playing lights out then all that was just a bunch of words and rivera's motivational skills will be shown as being insufficient.

they want to show their love for the coach? win games.

shut up, mr. negativity

we need more fans with no expectations

[frash.exe]

for more information on how insignificant being a players' coach is as it pertains to coaching ability, check out this poll...

[Marguide]

He kept the team motivated. He started to take a hard lead and make the decisions he thought were right instead of trying to placate other coordinators, GM's or even the owner. I really think he woke up and realized what needed to be done. He then devised a plan and headed it down and did everything he could to make sure his wishes were carried out.

I'm really looking forward to next year because unlike the end of the year last year this team really understands what it has and what it needs to do in order to win. We won't see dominance of Chud's trick plays or Cam carrying the team on his shoulders next year. We won't see Rivera leaving the game up to his coordinators if the ship needs a strong hand. A defensive coordinator turned into a had coach over the last 5-6 games and I can't wait for next year.

Very good post. I have been one of the one's calling for Rivera's head, but am open minded enough to hope you have more accurately gauged the situation.

However it turns out, you have at least made a nice case in his favor.

[fieryprophet]

My beef with Rivera was not adjusting the coverage of Norman on Marshall at the end of the Bears game. But when Norman was benched and the next guy up (Dockery) manhandled receivers in press coverage it became obvious that Norman simply was afraid to get dirty with receivers and wouldn't have done anything differently anyways.

Where we as fans tend to go astray is in assuming a coach's job has to be all about doing anything it takes to win right that minute, but we have to remember they are dealing with actual human beings. Rivera wanted to coach Nirman up and keep him confident, but the kid just wouldn't play outside his comfort zone. Ron finally bit the bullet and shut him down; hopefully, he'll wise up and get physical next year, but his confidence will need to be built back up, especially with Thomas and Dockery having success at the end of the year. It's a balancing act, and difficult to learn without experience. My hope is that Rom is building that experience with this year, and will be better in the future. For those who think he won't improve, you have an entire half-season to see that isn't true. The late streak we went on last year didn't involve much real changes in the coaching schemes, but this year almost every improvement was related to a Rivera move. He has shown the ability to change, something we all wanted after Foxball.

[Fan01]

Very good post. I have been one of the one's calling for Rivera's head, but am open minded enough to hope you have more accurately gauged the situation.

However it turns out, you have at least made a nice case in his favor.

Thanks, I tend to be optimistic but I fully realize I could have it completely backwards. As fans we base so much of what we think on what we see on TV and he said, she said rumors. By the time Hurney was fired I was on the fire Rivera bandwagon but I was impressed by how he really did change things up the last half of the season and I'd rather take one more year and take the chance we're on the cusp of greatness then to never know and start all over again so soon especially when there are so many indicators that the Panthers really are a lot closer than our record indicates.

How many articles and stat comparisons have there been saying how good the panthers are in all the categories that matter (except for wins)? Or how many wins we've lost by less than a touchdown or lost by one single play. Really, change one fluky play in most of the games we lost and we're in the playoff. Cam makes that easy pass in the Seahawks game to Hartsock. Cam doesn't fumble in the first Atlanta game. Smitty slipping in the Bears game. My god, the last Bucs game. I still can't believe we lost that one.

That's 4 plays and 4 games that we lost by just bad, bad luck and not making routine plays. Those teams are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook.

[rayzor]

for more information on how insignificant being a players' coach is as it pertains to coaching ability, check out this poll...

lol

coughlin, belichik, jim harbaugh, pete carroll all on that list.

[teeray]

I am going to say this very cautiously, because I'm not around him everyday, but sometimes I feel like Cam Newton is playing a game of chess and the rest of the world is playing checkers.

[Sloth]

Feel free to disagree, but if you watched the video and saw how the players reacted to Rivera and then saw all the tweets from the players today regarding the news that Rivera would be returning, you might think differently.

charles johnson ‏@randywattson

Chico run Chico run #CoachRivera

charles johnson ‏@randywattson

Heyyyyyyy

[Gabeking]

My beef with Rivera was not adjusting the coverage of Norman on Marshall at the end of the Bears game. But when Norman was benched and the next guy up (Dockery) manhandled receivers in press coverage it became obvious that Norman simply was afraid to get dirty with receivers and wouldn't have done anything differently anyways.

Where we as fans tend to go astray is in assuming a coach's job has to be all about doing anything it takes to win right that minute, but we have to remember they are dealing with actual human beings. Rivera wanted to coach Nirman up and keep him confident, but the kid just wouldn't play outside his comfort zone. Ron finally bit the bullet and shut him down; hopefully, he'll wise up and get physical next year, but his confidence will need to be built back up, especially with Thomas and Dockery having success at the end of the year. It's a balancing act, and difficult to learn without experience. My hope is that Rom is building that experience with this year, and will be better in the future. For those who think he won't improve, you have an entire half-season to see that isn't true. The late streak we went on last year didn't involve much real changes in the coaching schemes, but this year almost every improvement was related to a Rivera move. He has shown the ability to change, something we all wanted after Foxball.

I know you can't really compare these coaches(at least not yet obviously), but look at chuck noll and bill walsh's first few years and their records in close games ( -horrible- )

[fieryprophet]

I know you can't really compare these coaches(at least not yet obviously), but look at chuck noll and bill walsh's first few years and their records in close games ( -horrible- )

That's interesting to see too, but I've never understood the "close games" argument. History has shown that the outcome in such games is as close to random as can be imagined. There are too many individual elements that can effect the outcome of a game for a team to have more than marginal influence in the final outcome of an otherwise close affair; blocked extra point kicks, punt return TDs, INT on a tipped ball, missed field goals, etc. I remember the storyline on Peyton later in his career when he went on a long stretch of losing close games, and everyone argued he was losing his touch, until he went on a winning mini-streak and then everyone praised his newfound "clutchness."

Clutch is a myth, folks. It's a statistical anomaly with a very small sample set with a multitude of influencing factors that somehow implicate that because the external magnitude of the plays effect on the final outcome of the game has increased, the difficulty or ability to complete them has somehow been changed compared to the rest of the game. Any added tension on the offense is matched by tension on the defense, so they all play within the same framework of success or failure.

This is why Belichick runs up scores any chance he gets: he'd rather take the element of chance out of the final outcome of a game.