Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we recap a wildly unpredictable Week 16 in the NFL.....
• Ron Rivera is going to get his wish. Two weeks ago, after his Carolina Panthers thrashed the visiting Atlanta Falcons 38–0 to improve to 13–0 and clinch a first-round bye, Rivera started getting questions about whether he would rest his players in potentially meaningless late-season games, or keep going in pursuit of the perfect season? Rivera admitted to me that he was torn and hoped to not even be presented with that always messy dilemma.
Me: “You seem like you’re almost hoping there’s something on the line every week, and there aren’t any choices to be made.