Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera battles Arians again

This will be Arians’ third time making the playoffs as a head coach, and coincidentally the third time he will be facing off against Ron Rivera.

The last two times these coaches met, during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Rivera’s Panthers bounced Arians’ Cardinals from the playoffs both times.

When asked by a reporter if he remembers the loss to Rivera in the playoffs and if he could pull any lessons from it, Arians jokingly said: “Which one? We lost twice.”

Now in all fairness, in 2014, despite the 11-5 record, the Arizona Cardinals were coming into the playoffs on a two-game losing streak. After losing starting quarterback Carson Palmer and backup Drew Stanton, who combined for an 11-3 record during the season, Arizona was left with Logan Thomas as their only quarterback.

Let’s just say Thomas is a much better tight end than he was an NFL quarterback, so he never got an opportunity to start, as the Cardinals signed Ryan Lindley from the San Diego Chargers practice squad.

Lindley started the final two games of the season and the Wild Card game against Rivera’s Panthers, finishing 0-3 in that span.

“Yeah, we had our fourth string quarterback and it wasn’t much fun,” Arians continued. “We signed Ryan Lindley off the street, and we’re actually playing against the other quarterback, Logan Thomas, who is now tight end for the [Washington Football Team].”

“So, all our guys had gotten hurt and it was still a close game. I mean, it came down to an interception down on the goal line, and it was a very frustrating game.”

In 2015, the Cardinals again met the Panthers in the playoffs, but this time, the stakes were greater, as the winner of the game would represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

The results were the same for Arians, however, as Rivera and the Panthers handily defeated the Cardinals 49-15. Arians had Carson Palmer back, but it wasn’t enough, as they ran into a juggernaut in the Panthers, who finished the regular season 15-1 behind quarterback Cam Newton’s MVP season.

The Panthers also had the top-ranked scoring offense and the sixth-ranked defense in terms of points allowed during the 2015 season.