At 14-1, ‘disappointed’ Ron Rivera and Carolina Panthers are chasing other goals

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera says the toughest thing to do after his team’s perfect season ended with Sunday’s loss at Atlanta wasn’t addressing his team or his coaching staff.

It was stepping off the bus at Bank of America Stadium and facing the 300 or so fans lined up in the parking lot.

Rivera thanked the fans for showing up and high-fived as many as he could. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d let them down.

“I felt like I disappointed them,” Rivera said Monday. “The support we’ve gotten over my five seasons has grown and grown, and the fans have been tremendous. To have them show up and cheer us after a loss was tremendous. I had a little feeling inside that I let these folks down.”

The Panthers (14-1) failed in their bid to join the 1972 Dolphins and the 2007 Patriots as the only teams to finish the regular season undefeated.

And while they still can wrap up the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, Rivera didn’t try to hide his disappointment in falling short of 16-0.

“I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed for our guys. I think it would have been great for our guys to do something like that and make it special,” Rivera said. “But there was a lot of pressure obviously and a lot of attention. It would have been great for this organization and these fans.”

Two weeks after drumming the Falcons 38-0 in a game that matched the biggest margin of victory in team history, the Panthers lost 20-13 in front of a Georgia Dome crowd that included thousands of Carolina fans.

Rivera believes blown assignments, dropped passes (three) and missed opportunities were a bigger culprit than arrogance or overconfidence.

“I just don’t think we played smart,” Rivera said.

The game started promisingly for the Panthers, who took a 7-0 lead on their first series with an 80-yard touchdown drive and were poised to force the Falcons (8-7) to go 3-and-out on their first possession.

But after a third-down incompletion by Matt Ryan, Panthers cornerback Charles Tillman was flagged for unnecessary roughness after he and wide receiver Roddy White went to the ground.

The penalty gave the Falcons a first down and they wound up converting four other third-down situations during a 16-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 9 minutes, 23 seconds. Devonta Freeman capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run.

“After the first drive on offense and the first three plays on defense, it just didn’t look like we gave ourselves opportunities,” Rivera said.

It also looked like Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman played with less attitude a week after his well-documented dust-ups with Odell Beckham brought a one-game suspension for the Giants receiver and $26,000 in fines for Norman.

The officials had an increased presence during Sunday’s warmups, with the refs lining up across the 50-yard line to prevent a repeat of the pregame taunting that precipitated the Panthers-Giants game.

“Unfortunately when you have a game like you previously had, there’s going to be a little carryover,” Rivera said. “But we brought it on ourselves. Nobody else did.”

Rivera plans to talk with Norman this week to see if the Beckham controversy and resulting attention played a part in what was Norman’s worst game of the year. Julio Jones caught five passes for 80 yards vs. Norman and finished with nine receptions for 178 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown.

Sunday’s loss means home-field advantage in the NFC will be decided this weekend.

The Panthers can clinch the top seed with a win against Tampa Bay (6-9) or a loss by Arizona (13-2) against Seattle. The Bucs have dropped three in a row after getting to .500 this month.

Rivera has been asked for weeks whether he would rest his starters if the Panthers had wrapped up home-field entering the final week of the regular season.

“I wish I had that problem. But I don’t,” he said. “So the bottom line is we know what’s at stake and we know we’re playing to win, obviously.”

The Panthers were the fourth team to start 14-0. The other three reached the Super Bowl, although the ’72 Dolphins are the only one to win (the ’07 Patriots and ’09 Colts lost).

Panthers safety Roman Harper was a member of the Saints team that knocked off Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLIV. New Orleans started 13-0 that season, lost its final three regular-season games before rolling through the playoffs to win the franchise’s only Super Bowl.

“It happens,” Harper said inside the Panthers locker room Sunday. “I don’t think anybody’s plan is to go undefeated in a season. The main goal is to win the Super Bowl. And all of our goals are still out there for us.”

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 4:48 PM with the headline "At 14-1, ‘disappointed’ Ron Rivera and Carolina Panthers are chasing other goals."