Panthers coach Ron Rivera has made a number of critical mistakes this year.
His greatest sin was allowing Cam Newton to play hurt Weeks 1-2 when he clearly wasn’t healthy. That might’ve cost Newton his season and the team any realistic chance of making the playoffs. Rivera has also made some head-scratching decisions when it comes to playing time. The ongoing lack of snaps for first-round pick Brian Burns is the worst of it.
In Sunday’s loss to the Saints, Burns played just 22 defensive snaps. That’s 30 fewer than Mario Addison and Bruce Irvin and the same number as veteran DT Kyle Love. Fans aren’t the most rational people on the planet, but in this case they are right to be upset about Burns’ dwindling snap count.
We can’t share most of the tweets due to all the swearing, but here’s a few PG-rated ones that sum up how they’re feeling about it.
What’s most frustrating about this is Burns is actually producing.
In the limited action he sees on the field defensively, Burns continues to make an impact. He stripped Matt Ryan on a two-point conversion last week and his consistent pressure on Drew Brees late in the game helped give Carolina a chance at an upset.
Now that Burns’ wrist appears to be healthy, there’s no excuse for him not to be on the field at least as much as any other EDGE defender. Whatever Rivera’s reasoning may be, it falls well short of the importance of developing young talents like Burns – especially when they’re performing well.
Team owner David Tepper seems to be getting restless based on his recent comments. He already has more than enough reason to move on from Rivera at the end of this year. Keeping Burns on the sidelines this much checks yet another box.
