Getty ImagesThe Panthers got a measure of revenge against the Saints on Sunday, beating New Orleans after the Panthers believed the Saints ran up the score — and the stats — against the Panthers in Week 17 of the 2011 season.
But coach Ron Rivera said after the game that there was no sense of revenge at work, despite some frustration expressed by Panthers players in the days leading up to the game.
“The truth of the matter is,” Rivera told me after the game by phone, “it’s our fault. We let them score those points.”
Rivera was encouraged by the fact that the Panthers managed to close out a close game in the fourth quarter, something they had trouble doing in 2011. He also said that it was more important to avoid going 0-2 than it was to merely beat the Saints, especially since they would have been 0-2 both in the standings and in the division, following last weekend’s loss at Tampa.
Now, the Panthers have to get ready for a Thursday night visit from the New York Giants. To pull off the win, they’ll need to run the ball like they did against the Saints.
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Refs? Bad all around.
The Saints simply aren’t that good unless they’re cheating.
He’s right. And its the Saints’ players fault they lost today.
This is a gimme. Eli will be tired. Cam fresh as ever. Panthers 38-21 Giants.
That’s exactly what you would expect from Rivera, who’s as old-school as they come. I’m glad we have a coach that doesn’t accept exuse-makers and crybabies.
I think it does matter that 2 Panthers linebackers and 2 d-linemen were out with injuries, and Captin Munnerlyn was a starting CB. We would not have won even if we were full strength, but we might have slowed the Saints train down.
Game 16 should be fun. I imagine it will be a game where the winner goes to the playoffs and the loser does not.