Bill Barnwell: Worst Coaching decision of the year goes to.....

[CarolinaSexPanther]

I actually went to this game. Talk about an embarassment. Especially after watching the few other "Panther" fans leaving and taunting all the falcons fans when we got the ball back with 2:26 left in the 4th. Of course I wanted to stay and see the nail in the coffin that Rivera decided to pull out by not going for it on 4th and 1. At that moment I knew we were going to lose. I still think that point was the turning point in the season. If we win that game I think we go 12-4 or possibly 13-3.

[twylyght]

Jesus Christ... you children would have been calling this the worst play of the year if we had gone for it and not made it.

Holy fug, this board is brimming over with stupid

[Password is Taco]

its a process

[IGSaint]

Jesus Christ... you children would have been calling this the worst play of the year if we had gone for it and not made it.

Holy fug, this board is brimming over with stupid

Many coaches in the NFL go for it on 4th down, I don't think you would find as many criticising rivera for being aggressive and trusting the offense more than trusting the defense which was allowing ATL to light them up the previous three quarters. I for sure would not have blamed rivera because I was literally screaming at my screen for him to go for it on 4th down.

[twylyght]

Many coaches in the NFL go for it on 4th down, I don't think you would find as many criticising rivera for being aggressive and trusting the offense more than trusting the defense which was allowing ATL to light them up the previous three quarters. I for sure would not have blamed rivera because I was literally screaming at my screen for him to go for it on 4th down.

1:09 to go with no timeouts and pinned at the 1. The thing that went wrong is not the decision that put the Falcons there, but a safety playing 20 yards off the LoS and STILL getting beat by letting his SOLE responsibility get behind him. Anyone that knows ANYTHING about football knows EXACTLY where the blame should go for this loss. You get Naka to get what he is supposed to do, then we are not having this discussion.

If you want to blame coaching for not drilling in such a basic thing through this guy's skull then you would at least have SOMETHING to get behind. As it is, THIS BOARD would have us running into the heart of a stacked box when our QB has almost double the rushing yards of the leading rusher on the team.

[Fox007]

And some things never get built at all.

Which one are we I wonder...

[top dawg]

It may not be a popular opinion, but I don't see how people are giving more blame to Ron Rivera than Cam Newton for that play. The play actually worked until Newton---precariously handling the ball---fumbled away the first down.

People can believe all they want to about the play's importance to our season, but I say bullshit. If that play turned our entire season, then the team is (was) more weak-minded than I am thinking that they are. Psychological ramifications aside, the Mike Smith call was the most horrible call of the season, period.

[rayzor]

did the coaches know it was going to be pinned at the one? did they know that the STs unit wasn't going to choke like they had done quite frequently? did they know that the defense that had been giving it up all day was going to all of a sudden turn into a brick wall?

there were just too many things that could go wrong that had been going wrong all day and rivera made the mistake of trusting personnel groups that had proven themselves inadequate and untrustworthy. and he did it not because he believed in those guys, but because it was "textbook".

it was more likely that the offense would get one yard than it was that the defense and special teams would all do theirs. it is perceived that he chose the safer route, but it wasn't. it was the most reckless one because of who he had on the field, who they were playing against, where they were, and the overall situation and he chose that route only because "by the book".