ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera has more things to worry about than revenge on Sunday — like possibly clinching a division title. That’s why he’s trying to limit talk about facing the Carolina Panthers, the team that fired him a year ago.
Washington (6-8) can clinch the NFC East title with a win and a New York Giants loss. The Giants play at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. That’s why Rivera said his focus isn’t on facing the Panthers, whom he coached for nine seasons and took to the Super Bowl in 2015. Washington has 12 assistant coaches with ties to Carolina and several members of the front office. Two players — linebacker Thomas Davis and quarterback Kyle Allen, currently on injured reserve — had been with Carolina.
“This is about the organization winning and getting into the playoffs and not Ron Rivera getting revenge,” Rivera said. “That’s the last thing I want it to be.”
Washington hasn’t made the postseason since winning the NFC East in 2015; it has reached the postseason only twice in the past 12 years.
Rivera did say he thought Washington might open with Carolina, just to add a little more juice to an early season game. But when he saw it was in December, he thought his feelings toward the game would change — especially given what remains at stake for Washington.
“This late in the season it’s different,” he said. “If this had been our opener, believe me it would be a highly emotional game. But it’s not. The consequences of this game is about this team, this organization, trying to be relevant and trying to take a step forward. I want to see us focus on the reasons why we want to win the game as opposed to a personal reason.”
Carolina won three NFC South titles and made the postseason four times under Rivera. He finished with a 76-63-1 record in his eight-plus seasons. Carolina owner David Tepper, who bought the team in May of 2018, fired Rivera two days after it lost to Washington last season. Within a week, Rivera had talked to Washington owner Dan Snyder, starting down the path that landed him another head coaching job.
“I wasn’t angry about getting let go at Carolina,” Rivera said earlier this month. “I had a great conversation with Mr. Tepper and I understood his reasoning. For me, it was more of a matter of I was disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to finish it out. I was disappointed in the way that we played more so than anything else.”
During his video conference call with the Washington media Monday, Rivera said he wanted to limit discussion about facing the Panthers to that call and also one with the Carolina media on Wednesday. But it’s not a topic he wants to keep alive, certainly not after having a four-game winning streak snapped Sunday by Seattle.
“I do owe the franchise a lot; first opportunity as a head coach,” Rivera said. “We got to the Super Bowl. To me, this is not about that. This is about this organization growing and developing.”