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Ron Rivera was sad for himself and his team when he walked off the Georgia Dome field with their first loss of the year yesterday.

He felt even worse when the team bus pulled back into the parking lot and he saw a mass of fans there to cheer them upon their arrival home.

“I’m disappointed for our guys. I think it would have been great for our guys to have been able to do something like that and make it special, but there was a lot of pressure, obviously, and a lot of attention,” Rivera said, via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review. “It would have been great for this organization and for these fans.”

“Probably one of the hardest things to do yesterday was get off the bus and see the welcome we got, because to be honest, I felt like we disappointed them.”

The display was appreciated by players, a number of whom tweeted about the response last night.

Rivera, who was a member of the 1985 Bears, recalled that team suffering its only loss of the year to Miami, and coming home to record the “Super Bowl Shuffle” video. He said of that Bears team “our arrogance showed,” but said he didn’t see the same kind of reaction this time. Of course, the Bears didn’t lose again, either.

“But it gets your attention and I hope it gets all of our attention,” Rivera said of his Panthers. “Hopefully, it sticks in our craw. Hopefully, it’s something that helps to motivate us and drive us that we have a lot to prove.”

At 14-1, they’ve already proven plenty. But getting refocused to secure home field advantage this week and then do something with it in the playoffs will be a different test for a team that needed 13 months to experience regular season humility.