As Carolina coach Ron Rivera went to break down the huddle inside the Panthers' locker room at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, he told his team, "We'll see you guys tomorrow." For a second, the joy of a 9th straight win turned to disappointment.

"Ah, just kidding," Rivera said, sparking cheers.

But the idea of a day off was apparently more important than actually having one. According to Rivera, about 35 players showed up to the stadium instead of staying away on a 'Victory Monday.'

"It's not about you having to do it, it's you've got to be willing to do it, and that's what we have right now," Rivera said. "We have a group of guys that are willing to do things."

Of the players who voluntarily went into work was quarterback Cam Newton, who went through a film session of his 21-for-26 performance at Tennessee. Others received treatment. What Rivera wants is for guys to treat this week like the rest.

Sure, they're still the lone remaining unbeaten team in the NFC, and while the Redskins exploded for 47 points against the Saints on Sunday, the Panthers head into another week as the hunted.

"It's one of the things we talked about going into last week that this could be a potential trap game. Why? Because everybody's talking about you being favored," Rivera said. "The truth of the matter is they don't care what that means; they don't care what the spread is. Everybody just shows up and plays hard and I think that kept our guys focused."

Something to note about the job Rivera has done this year is he hasn't used "one game at a time" as just a cliché. It's become a tool, a laserlike focus his players have latched onto.

The Panthers are good. You can't use smoke and mirrors to go 9-0 in the NFL. But they're not yet good enough to assume things will come easy against a lesser opponent.

"Anytime you come into a game, and people talk about how good you are and you start listening and believing it, then you get yourself in trouble," Rivera said. "I want to make sure we're staying focused on the task at hand, and that's going out and playing to the best of our abilities.

"The truth of the matter is, it's not always the best team that's going to win, but it's the team that plays better that day."