With Rivera’s firing and classy goodbye over, how will Panthers react in Atlanta?

Before we get to whether or not Sunday’s Carolina-Atlanta game will be better than that monstrosity from three weeks ago, I’ve got a couple thoughts on one of the weirdest weeks ever in Panther Land.

▪ When Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera took out a full-page ad in Friday’s Charlotte Observer to say “Thank you” to a bunch of people after he got fired on Tuesday, it reminded me of a couple of things.

First of all, the reaction to the ad — and Rivera’s gracious press conference Wednesday — reminded me that Rivera had a lot of success, hung around for a long time and still managed to remain beloved by almost everyone.

The Charlotte pro sports market has been fortunate to have had a number of those types of people over the 25 years I’ve covered it.

If I were making a list of a dozen pro athletes with deep Charlotte connections who would join Rivera on the “All-Time Beloved” list, I would include in no particular order Kemba Walker, Jake Delhomme, Luke Kuechly, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sam Mills, Jeff Gordon, Muggsy Bogues, John Kasay, Richard Petty, Dell and Steph Curry and, at No. 12, whatever athlete you are thinking of right now that you are mad at me for forgetting.

▪ What’s the second thing? The ad reminded me that every now and then an athlete or a coach thinks something is so important that they make a concerted effort to get it into a newspaper exactly the way they want it to be.

Rivera and his wife, Stephanie, bought the full-page ad to make sure it said exactly what they wanted it to. It included a line thanking David Tepper, who had fired Rivera only 72 hours earlier, and wishing Tepper and his wife, Nicole, “every success.”

Seriously, Rivera should teach a business course on how to make a graceful exit.

The full-page newspaper ad buy from a Panther had been done before in Charlotte, though for a different reason.

Before the 2012 season, Panthers center Ryan Kalil also bought a full-page ad in The Observer and entitled it: “Why the Carolina Panthers will win Super Bowl XLVII.” He then wrote a 14-paragraph letter below that headline, explaining why he thought the team would go all the way.

Kalil would later say he wrote the letter and bought the ad to serve as a rallying cry for his teammates after Carolina had gone 8-24 the previous two years. The Panthers only went 7-9 that season, so the prediction flopped, but Carolina did make the Super Bowl three years later.

▪ Rivera’s “Thank You and Goodbye” theme was also echoed in Kasay’s farewell letter, which was delivered in a different way.

In 2011, the Panthers made the mistake of releasing Kasay so they could sign a forgettable kicker named Olindo Mare. Rather than being bitter, Kasay penned a 257-word handwritten letter to the team’s fans and sent it to me at The Charlotte Observer. We published it in full, of course.

Kasay’s letter began: “I wanted to personally write this letter to every Carolina Panther fan. Words cannot express how truly thankful my family and I are for the most wonderful 16 years of our lives.”

So, that was classy, too. But Rivera’s exit this week will be hard to top. Even for those who wanted him gone, the coach was immediately transformed into a more sympathetic figure due to the fact that Tepper fired him four games before the season ended.

▪ How will new offensive coordinator Scott Turner do this week replacing his father Norv as play-caller? I would imagine he pulls out all the stops – if there’s not at least one trick play in the mix vs. the Falcons, I’d be surprised. Turner is also well aware of Carolina’s offensive line deficiencies, so I would think a lot of three-step drops will be in store for Kyle Allen (who had four interceptions against the Falcons last time).

▪ Prediction time. Against Atlanta the first time, just three weeks ago, the Panthers sold out to stop the run and tried to make quarterback Matt Ryan beat them. And boy, did he ever, throwing for 311 yards as Atlanta blasted Carolina, 29-3. It was the game that, as much as any, ended up causing Rivera’s premature exit.

This time I think the Panthers will get something of a bump from all the changes at Bank of America Stadium this week, including the promotion of Perry Fewell to interim head coach. It often happens that way. But Atlanta is 7-1 against Carolina over the last eight meetings and hardly ever loses to the Panthers in Georgia.

My pick: Atlanta 27, Carolina 20.