Missed field goal bails out Panthers’ Ron Rivera in rare NFL tie game
Riverboat Ron Rivera wasn’t so riverboat on Sunday.
Rivera had the best player on the field in Cam Newton yet chose to play for the tie in overtime, and he was bailed out on the decision when Cincinnati Bengals kicker Mike Nugent missed wide right on a 36-yard field-goal attempt as the extra period expired.
Final: Panthers 37, Bengals 37. It was only the third tied NFL game since the league adopted the new overtime rules.
But back to Rivera and Newton. In a gutty performance, Newton rushed for 107 yards and a score and threw for 284 yards and two scores. Time and time again, he put the Panthers on his back and delivered.
Newton’s interception with 3:36 left in the fourth quarter might have given Rivera pause to try to do too much. Maybe the Panthers coach figured that his team would be in good shape either way in the NFC South with a tie. But it’s a shame not to let him try to win the game.
In his first NFL overtime series ever, Newton went to work on his first possession after the Bengals settled for a Nugent field goal to open OT. Newton hit Jerricho Cotchery for nine yards. Newton then ran for nine yards and five yards, both to the left, his 14th and 15th carries of the game. Then he found Greg Olsen for 11 yards.
After a Darrin Reaves loss of three on the ground, Newton gained those yards back up the middle — and got in Vontaze Burfict’s face afterward. That’s bravery. Newton made a gutsy throw just short of the sticks to the sideline on third and 10 — it would have been fourth and 1 had the Bengals not committed illegal contact, giving the Panthers an automatic first down.
With the Panthers on the edge of field-goal range, Newton kept them driving. He made a great juke and gained 12 yards on his 17th carry, the most he ever has had in a game but looking strong doing so. Cotchery couldn’t quite haul in what would have been a walk-off touchdown pass on second and 6 from the Bengals’ 23-yard line, and Newton was forced to check down on third down a yard short of the first.
Rivera opted not to call Newton’s number for carry No. 18 here. Graham Gano tied the game, and overtime rolled on. But this was the point that Newton should have gotten the ball for the forward plunge. They needed one yard. Newton ran four times for 29 yards in overtime. He easily could have gotten one more against the weakened right side of the Bengals’ defense, which was a sieve in the extra period.
A loss would have hurt, but the hurting of not knowing whether the Panthers could have won it behind Newton’s legs and arm will linger. Newton lives for these types of moments. Rivera never gave him a chance.
Rivera made a name for himself a year ago in the Panthers’ division-winning season after an early year change of colors. When the Panthers lost in Buffalo in Week 2 after Rivera was way too conservative near game’s end, he vowed never to give teams another chance to take a victory away from his team.
Too bad Rivera reverted back to his old self Sunday. Newton was rolling, and the Bengals were reeling. A tie is fine, especially in the muddled NFC South, but the Panthers had a chance to go to 4-2 and send a message that last season was not a mirage — despite all the personnel losses the team has suffered to this point, prior to and during the season.
Instead, they got lucky, with a missed chip shot gifting them a strange tie. Hopefully for Rivera, he treats this game as another Buffalo situation and realizes that he has a quarterback who is capable of winning games.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
