Panthers coach Ron Rivera not a fan of flexed start time vs. Bucs
If Ron Rivera had his druthers, the Carolina Panthers would still be playing at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Instead, the NFL moved the Buccaneers-Panthers game to 4:25 p.m. to match up with the Cardinals-Seahawks game
By placing the two games in the same slot, the NFL is trying to guarantee both teams play their starters and try to win. Had the Panthers stayed at 1 p.m., a Carolina victory would mean the Cardinals would have nothing to play for and could rest their starters.
The move also adds intrigue to the battle for the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed.
“That’s kind of a tough deal because whether you rest or players or you don’t based on what happens, to me, that should be your option,” Rivera said Tuesday. “Originally it was scheduled 1 and 4:30 but the league’s got to do what the league feels is best for television.
“But if I were in that situation, I would rather be able to know. To me it’s a valuable decision you have to make as a head coach. And I’d rather make the decision than have somebody make it for me.”
Carolina (14-1) can earn the No. 1 seed with a win against Tampa Bay or an Arizona (13-2) loss. Meanwhile, the Cardinals can get the No. 1 seed with a Panthers’ loss and a victory against the Seahawks.
Should the Cardinals and Panthers finish in a tie at 14-2, the tiebreaker would go to the Cardinals because they’d have a better record against conference opponents.
Now there could be an itch for the Panthers to look up to the scoreboard and monitor what’s happening in Arizona. But Rivera said he won’t look for the score because he’s sole intention is to beat Tampa Bay.
On Monday, Rivera admitted that he would have played the starters against Tampa Bay had Carolina been 15-0 aiming for a perfect regular-season despite having the No. 1 seed locked up. He expanded on that Tuesday, hinting that he and general manager Dave Gettleman met with team owner Jerry Richardson at some point during the winning streak and discussed going for perfection.
“The truth of the matter is we’ll play it as we need to,” Rivera said. “I can’t imagine it being any different than our situation for (the Cardinals). The thing we have to do is we have to play.
“We’re going to play to win. I’ve listened to my players and talked to the coaches and Dave and I have talked and we’ve met with Mr. Richardson and we play to win. That’s what it is. These guys are professional athletes. They know they get paid to do well something. Well, let’s play.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Panthers coach Ron Rivera not a fan of flexed start time vs. Bucs."