The Panthers are 14-1 and have a chance to lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with a win over the Buccaneers at home Sunday, but a frustrated Ron Rivera still feels his team hasn't gotten the respect it deserves.
"I don't get it,'' Rivera told reporters Friday. "I really don't. It's funny. At one point you've got a 14-game winning streak and people doubt you, then you lose one game and people doubt you even more.
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"We'll just show up Sunday and play.''
Rivera has a point about the doubt that has seemed to follow the team throughout its 14-game win streak to open the season.
FiveThirtyEight.com gave Carolina just a 55 percent chance to win the NFC South in the preseason. And now, despite having the best record in the league, they’re behind both the Cardinals (13-2) and Patriots (12-3) in FiveThirtyEight.com’s latest forecast with an 18 percent chance to win the Super Bowl. Arizona and New England are listed at 24 and 21 percent, respectively.
"I think we crashed the party,'' Rivera said. "People were expecting us to be 8-8, 9-7, I guess. It took people a long time to pay attention to us.
"I don't think we were fairly treated by some other people. People made statements about who we are, and they have no idea about who we really are.''
Buccaneers defensive lineman Gerald McCoy gave Panthers QB Cam Newton credit Thursday, saying he should be the league’s MVP because “of what he does with what he has,” referencing the loss of Kelvin Benjamin in the preseason. But Rivera, who admitted to being “befuddled,” is using the perceived disrespect to fuel his roster, which happens to have 10 guys named to this year’s Pro Bowl.
"It's about trying to get recognized, and we have to some degree,'' Rivera said. "But I just don't think we've gotten our due, which is OK.
"We'll just do the best we can. We'll show up, play hard, and see what happens.''