On 3rd or 4th-and-1, the Panthers are 35 of 43 in the Cam Era

[UNCrules2187]

What is unquestionably true is that the Panthers are a wildly successful team in short yardage. Since Rivera took over and the Panthers drafted Cam Newton first overall, Carolina has run the ball on third-and-1 or fourth-and-1 43 times. It has converted 35 of those runs for first downs or touchdowns, meaning that its break-even rate on those plays has been a whopping 81.4 percent. Newton, in particular, has been near-unstoppable: He is 16-for-18 on those carries as a pro. You wouldn't want to risk sneaking him on every single short-yardage play just for the purposes of keeping him healthy, but with the game on the line, you simply have to turn to Newton. And even if you don't, Carolina's backfield is full of expensive running backs; Jonathan Stewart is hurt, but the Panthers could just as easily have handed the ball to DeAngelo Williams or Mike Tolbert. Even if you want to accuse that data of being too small to analyze, what do you think Carolina's "true" success rate is if it ran the ball a million times with a yard to go against an average defense? Would it convert 60 percent of the time? 70 percent? Literally, if the Panthers had to sit down and write a résumé, the first strength they would mention is their effectiveness in short yardage. And yet, Rivera turned down another opportunity to use that strength to seal a victory.

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9680034/bill-barnwell-week-2-nfl-season

 

 

 

 

[Fox007]

Preaching to the choir at this point man...

 

The ONLY people who don't know this reside on the coaching staff.

 

I mean...short of printing this out and slapping him in his stoic, clueless face with it....not sure what we can do.

[TheRumGone]

it really just keeps getting worse and worse

[rayzor]

i guarantee you that if the players saw this and didn't have their heads up their asses, they wouldn't be thinking rivera was such a good coach and be blaming themselves for so many close losses and games lost by less than seven.

 

the problem is in game management.

[Jrock88]

"thats like a 19 percent chance we might lose the game! i cant risk that..."

 

-ron rivera

[FootballMaestro]

i guarantee you that if the players saw this and didn't have their heads up their asses, they wouldn't be thinking rivera was such a good coach and be blaming themselves for so many close losses and games lost by less than seven.

 

the problem is in game management.

 

True. 

 

But everyone keeps talking about the 4th and 1. Why?

 

Rivera had no intention of scoring a TD on that last drive. It was clear he was only trying to burn out the clock, to kick a FG to close the game. He never wanted to score a TD. 

 

I knew exactly what he was doing, and said to myself at the time "watch Rivera run down the clock", only to give the ball back to Buffalo, and let them miraculously win". 

 

He does the same thing, over and over again, handicapping this offense and team. And then we expect different. 

 

SMH

[Delhommey]

I have as much against the 3 plays before the 4th and 1 call.

[Gucci Mane]

[CPF4LIFE]

I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS CRAP FOR THE LONGEST. I JUST want to BASH MY HEAD INTO A WALL EVERTIME we dont do it!!!fug Rivera!!!

[TheRumGone]

you would just think from a historical persepctive he would want to change it up and actually try to go for it.

 

what a fuging dumbass. This keeps getting worse and worse for me.

[panther4life]

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That's our head coach the clinically insane.