Ron Rivera criticizes Panthers defenders for being ‘lazy’
Ron Rivera is a player’s coach, but the Panthers defense pushed him much too far in their loss against the Falcons on Sunday.
The Panthers let a big opportunity pass them by against the Falcons. The team headed to Atlanta with serious questions about whether or not the offense could move the ball with such a depleted offensive line, but Cam Newton silenced the doubters. Unfortunately, the Panthers defense failed to hold up their end of the bargain.
It’s safe to say Ron Rivera noticed. The normally affable head coach hit out at his players at his press conference on Monday. He admitted his defense had some physical issues, but he was much more distressed with the team’s mental approach. In the end, he deemed the effort of some of his players in Week 2 to be “lazy.”
That’s not the sort of word Rivera throws around lightly. He is a coach who prides himself on getting maximum effort from his team on a weekly basis. The fact that he’s calling out his squad in this manner means practice this week is going to be hell on the defense.
No one on the team is going to be safe from criticism. The Panthers didn’t stop the Falcons ground or passing game. Allowing Tevin Coleman to rush for 107 yards on just 16 carries is going to get a lot of attention from Rivera and his staff. When you watch the tape it’s clear the Panthers were not physical enough at the point of attack. For a team with so much talent on their defensive line that’s a major cause for concern.
Rivera on fixing the defensive issues: "Some of it physical nature, some of it mental. Some of it lazy. We have a standard here. We're not going to tolerate it."
— Max Henson (@maxhenson) September 17, 2018
The secondary wasn’t much better. James Bradberry did a nice job of keeping Julio Jones under wraps, but Matt Ryan was able to find all of his other targets. He ended up with 272 yards passing on just 28 attempts. That obviously means Donte Jackson and the rest of Rivera’s defensive backs struggled mightily. The Falcons have a nice passing attack, but Carolina gave them far too many easy completions.
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Next week’s game won’t be much easier for the Panthers defense. Andy Dalton brings a red-hot Bengals offense into Charlotte. Cincinnati will certainly miss Joe Mixon, but keeping A.J. Green and company under wraps is going to be difficult. If Rivera’s defense doesn’t do a better job in Week 3 there’s no telling what he might say about his players.