Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera did a masterful job making his team buy into a 'one game at a time' mentality during its franchise-record start. Yet as the wins piled up, so did stress levels.
Rivera on Monday acknowledged the pressure that accompanied a 14-0 start. But with two more days to reflect on the Panthers' loss in Atlanta, he was more descriptive on NBC Sports Radio.
"I'll be honest with you, the best I've slept in probably the last four weeks was Sunday night after the Atlanta game," Rivera told Mike Florio on Wednesday's 'PFT Live.'
"I slept 12 hours. I got home, went right to bed and the next thing you know it's 7:30 in the morning."
Rivera also said, "in hindsight," falling to the Falcons was a good thing for the Panthers. Not only did it release the rising pressure, but it could help recalibrate some players who may have gone off track.
Week 15's wild win over the Giants led to days full of drama. No longer were more eyeballs paying attention to an unbeaten team. People also wanted to see what a defense that was basically accused of bullying wideout Odell Beckham Jr. would do next. The answer was not much.
Most notably, usually colorful and aggressive cornerback Josh Norman appeared less so against the Falcons. It was something his injured backfield mate Bené Benwikere noticed while watching in Charlotte.
During his regular Tuesday afternoon appearance on WFNZ's 'Primetime,' Benwikere said he felt Norman tried "to be mild-mannered." And when asked if the Panthers can win with a defensive backfield concerned about what's swirling around them, Benwikere answered:
"To be honest, no. That's something that coach has talked about all year — 'You need to be yourselves.' The fact that we weren't out there just being ourselves — that hurt us."
Rivera agreed, so much so that he read Benwikere's comments to his team Wednesday morning.
"I really felt it was important for everybody to understand that we've got to get focused back on who we are, on the way we've done things," Rivera said. "With the way we did things for the first 14 weeks, look where we were. We kind of — I don't want to say avoided the personality — but we didn't play with that same type of personality and Atlanta got the best of us."
"We have to stay focused on us. We can't get caught up on what other people think or the perception that's out there. We have to be concerned with the way we play and the way we do things."