By Len Pasquarelli
The Sports Xchange
It was just another defeat on the way to a 1-5 start in his debut season as an NFL head coach, but following the Carolina Panthers’ 31-17 loss at Atlanta last Oct. 16, Ron Rivera used a description that he would employ several more times during a 6-10 year, and which he broke out again Saturday night after his team bowed to the Houston Texans in the 2012 preseason opener.
“Unacceptable,” the Panthers’ second-year coach characterized the 26-13 loss on Saturday evening.
For a Carolina team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2008, and has won only 16 games in the three ensuing seasons, the five syllables might seem like just another throwaway term by a young coach attempting to verbally hoodwink his club into believing it is actually better than its dismal record. But it’s a whole lot more than a hollow judgment on what Rivera expects from the Panthers moving forward.
“It’s what he believes,” offensive tackle Jordan Gross said. “He expects us to play a certain way.”
OK, so maybe the chagrin at being “unacceptable” hasn’t yet translated into wins for the Panthers. But the term, which Rivera apparently uses even more in private team meetings than he does publicly, has kind of resonated with a club that is building around 2011 rookie of the year Cam Newton, and which is being challenged to step up to the excellence of its young quarterback and leader. Being merely acceptable might not be quite good enough in an NFC South division that includes presumptive powerhouses New Orleans and Atlanta. After all, mediocrity usually doesn’t earn a franchise a playoff berth.
Unacceptable, though? Well, that’s a slap to the ego of any player, and connotes a failure to perform to the anticipated benchmark. The Panthers may be deficient in some areas, and certainly there are several areas that need addressed, but players don’t want to be derelict. And Rivera, who interviewed either seven or eight times for head coach positions in the league before landing the Carolina gig last year, is clearly not going to reconcile lack of effort.
“As a former player,” tailback DeAngelo Williams said after the loss at the Georgia Dome 10 months ago, “(Rivera) knows what the standards are.” Even though the Saturday loss was an opening exhibition, the sentiments were the same, and so were the expectations, apparently.
Which for the Panthers, a mixed-bag conglomeration of youngsters and veterans and hardly a start-up collection, is not an altogether bad thing.
The Panthers’ 16 wins since claiming the NFC South with a 12-4 record in 2008, are the fewest in the division. Even Tampa Bay, which has finished last in the division in two of the past three campaigns, has more. New Orleans and Atlanta have played tag-team with the NFC South title the last three seasons, and have been 1-2, in some order, since 2008, and seemingly have separated themselves from the pack. But the Panthers, under Rivera, can’t be content to be also-rans, players emphasized.
On the optimistic side, the Panthers lost six of 10 games in ’11 by eight points or fewer, three by five points or less. But the detractors would not there were also four defeats of 14 points or more, including 27- and 28-point blowouts. The detractors, it should be emphasized, included more than a few players.
Certainly, there is no lack of support from management or ownership. Just hours before Saturday’s game, the Panthers signed running back Jonathan Stewart to a fat new contract. The deal follows, by roughly a year, Williams’ megadeal, and the club, which now has two of the eight highest paid backs in the league, has committed over $40 million to the position. Linebacker Jon Beason, defensive end Charles Johnson and center Ryan Kalil all signed contracts within the past year that nudged them into the highest tax bracket at their respective positions.
Owner Jerry Richardson may be one of the league’s most gracious men, but he is also very competitive, and isn’t one to settle for average. At least publicly, he hasn’t invoked the “unacceptable” characterization to assess his team, but it’s doubtful he disagrees much with his coach.
Owner of a Super Bowl XX ring, as a standout Chicago Bears’ linebacker, Rivera understands what it takes to be a champion. And he has attempted to impart that to the Panthers, even in the wake of a preseason loss. The Saturday defeat, in which the Panthers appeared lethargic in the second half, may have been forgettable. It isn’t likely, though, that players will readily dismiss Rivera’s assessment.
Said Newton: “We’ve got to be better, it’s as simple as that.”
Led by Newton — who has re-energized the roster, and even transformed often-surly wide receiver Steve Smith into a believer, and provided hope to a fan base that had grown skeptical — the Panthers have some talent.
Not enough yet, for sure, but enough, in the estimation of their coach, to be a notch above unacceptable.