Panthers

Defense

A former player John Milem will be featured, but HBO won’t release the name of the additional three players who will get fingered on-air. It’s a story that can’t go away fast enough for Carolina.

Owner Jerry Richardson had a sit-down meeting with Rivera, making it clear that the team would have to play better. “The biggest thing is we have to be trending up. We have to be showing that we are improving as a football team,” said Rivera. “Whether that’s a specific number of wins, I don’t know. To some degree, it’s about perception. People have to see that we’re competing.” The Panthers have been competitive in all but one game, belying their 2-6 record.

Lombardi didn’t cite any sources, so take the report with a grain of salt, but Rivera’s status heading into the offseason has certainly been in question, especially after Carolina started the season 2-8. The Panthers have rallied to win four-of-five and now sit at 6-9 heading into Week 17. After finishing 2011 with a 6-10 record, Rivera will, at the very least, match that mark, but owner Jerry Richardson may deem that it’s not good enough. Aside from blowout losses in Week 3 and Week 10 to the Giants and Broncos, the Panthers have been in every game. Carolina ranks No. 17 in total offense and No. 8 in total defense in 2012. The team has been linked to Oregon’s Chip Kelly in recent months.

Holcomb is the first Panthers position coach hired in the past two weeks who did not have previous ties to the organization. After over a decade in the college ranks, Holcomb joined the Giants’ staff in a quality control capacity in 2009. He spent the last two seasons as a defensive assistant.

Cole follows that up by saying that “there’s more talk” that interim general manager Brandon Beane will get the full-time job. This report goes against what NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi said earlier in the week when he said Rivera would “certainly” be fired on Monday, but we’d trust Cole’s source more than Lombardi’s personal opinion. Carolina enters Week 17 having won four-of-five games, and the team has a chance to finish at 7-9 should they beat the Saints on Sunday. Rivera has the Panthers defense sitting at No. 8 in the league, and after a slow start, Cam Newton has been stellar over the past month or two, getting the offense up to a respectable No. 17 in the NFL.

Owner Jerry Richardson isn’t even in the building on Monday. Beat writer Steve Reed “highly doubts” we will hear anything on Rivera’s future Monday -- and perhaps for the rest of the week. The Panthers won five of their last six games, but much will depend on the next GM. Giants college scouting director Marc Ross and senior pro personnel analyst Dave Gettleman are expected to be interviewed for that job, along with interim GM Brandon Beane.

“Would we like to do more? Absolutely. How much of it? We’ll see,” said McDermott. The main reasoning behind the desire is that Carolina has four quality linebackers in Luke Kuechly, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, and James Anderson. “We’ve got to get all of those guys on the field,” McDermott added. Mike Clay of Pro Football Focus, and Rotoworld contributor, said the Panthers ran zero base 3-4 snaps in 2012, playing 39 snaps in the 3-3-5 nickel defense.

Rivera and owner Jerry Richardson met face-to-face on Saturday to determine the head coach’s fate. After a shaky start to the season, the Panthers went 6-3 in their last nine games, a fact which certainly played into Rivera’s favor. Rivera has two years left on his original $11 million deal. There’s no official word yet on Rivera’s assistants, but it’s expected that offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski will also be retained, which is positive news for Cam Newton. Newton will enter his third season in the same offensive system in 2013. The Panthers will begin interviewing GM candidates on Monday.

Richardson and Rivera are meeting on Saturday face-to-face, and Rivera’s fate will be determined once Richardson hires a general manager. In 2012, Carolina won its final four games and finished 7-9. If Rivera were kept, he would also figure to retain offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, giving face-of-the-franchise Cam Newton continuity. It’s going to be a very tough call for Richardson.

We’re often leery of posting Clayton’s stories because he relies heavily on dot-connecting at this point in his reporting career, but he seems to genuinely have some information this time around. “People inside the building think that (Rivera) is going to be able to stay,” Clayton said. Rivera and owner Jerry Richardson are meeting on Saturday, which will essentially be a job interview for the incumbent head coach. The Panthers are tentatively expected to hire Giants exec Dave Gettleman as general manager, and apparently he’ll be on board. Or, Richardson will at least strongly encourage him to be on board.