Ron Rivera faces Tough Decision on Panthers’ Perfection

To bench or not to bench? That is the question, and for Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, a heart-wrenchingly difficult one pending the outcome of this week’s slate of games.

It is commonplace in the NFL for a coach to rest his star players if they are, by virtue of circumstance, “locked into” a playoff slot.

The undefeated Panthers have the opportunity to lock themselves into the top seed in the NFC – and ensure that the path to the Super Bowl runs through the Carolinas – with a win this week against the New York Giants and a simultaneous Cardinals loss to the Eagles.

For the sake of argument, let’s say everything works out and Carolina clinches first place. At 14-0, Rivera will have to decide whether to wrap his biggest names in proverbial bubble wrap for two weeks, or offer his young team a shot at perfection.

The number one rule in a situation like this is “don’t ask the players.” On ESPN’s Mike & Mike radio show through the week, former Indianapolis offensive lineman Jeff Saturday expressed his disgust at sitting out the final 1.5 games of the 2009 regular season, forced to watch on helplessly as his Colts fell from the ranks of the unbeaten to a paltry 14-2.

Former Patriots linebacker, Tedy Bruschi, however, recalls enlisting the help of fellow veterans in 2007 to lobby Bill Belichick and ensure his team finished with the only 16-0 season in NFL history. Ironically, it would be Saturday’s team that wound up winning the title, but his regret at not achieving legendary status, even several years after the fact, continues to irk him.

It is simply inconceivable that players like Cam Newton, Greg Olsen and Luke Kuechly would even consider the possibility of not taking the field in a supposed “meaningless” game. What’s more, the move to bench said stars could do a lot more harm than good to the team’s chemistry and swagger.

The Panthers have fuelled their entire season on doubters, naysayers and haters claiming they are the “worst undefeated team of all time,” as if that’s some sort of insult. In response, Carolina have danced, flipped and dabbed their way to win after win, and laughed in the face of anyone brave enough to stop them.

This is a team that choreographs touchdown celebrations almost as meticulously as its goal line read-option plays; a team savage enough to take a group photo during the two-minute warning of a divisional blowout. To think that an avoidable loss wouldn’t damage the morale of that group at least a little is ludicrous.

Rivera needs to ignore every instinct he has as a coach and approach the situation as the player he once was. A chance at an incomparable achievement is worth the risk of any injury, and his players will back that one up.