Ron Rivera says Carolina Panthers can’t panic now
By Cory Buck
The Carolina Panthers dropped their second straight game and fell to 2-2 after taking a beating from the Baltimore Ravens this past weekend. Don’t tell head coach Ron Rivera he should be worried, though. By his math, the Panthers are still tied atop the NFC South and that’s all that matters for now.
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“It’s no time to panic. The team that’s leading the NFC South is 2-2,” Rivera said per Joseph Person at the Charlotte Observer. “There’s still a lot of hope now. I just hope we understand that.”
Bare in mind the Panthers started last season 1-3 before winning 11 of their final 12 games in 2013 so this is nothing new for Rivera or the rest of the Panthers roster. However, it’s hard to imagine the team pulling off a similar feat in 2014 given that they’re likely going to be without key contributors like Steve Smith — who scorched the Panthers in Week 4 as a Baltimore Raven — and Greg Hardy, who is awaiting a jury trail for domestic violence.
That said, there is still plenty of talent on the Carolina roster and given the early struggles of the New Orleans Saints and the inconsistency of the Atlanta Falcons, the NFC South is wide open. The Panthers may not be able to win 12 games this season, but they could still win enough to take the division. That’s good enough for Ron Rivera.
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