The Carolina Panthers drove for the game-tying score against the Detroit Lions, then opted not to tie it.
"Riverboat" Ron Rivera decided to go for two points and the road win instead of kicking a game-tying extra point.
"I think you go for two on the road to win," Rivera said after the 20-19 loss, via the Detroit Free Press. "That's what I did at the end of the day. What's to say the coin toss is going to go in our favor? What's to tell you we're going to stop them? So, why not go for two."
On the two-point try, Cam Newton dropped back, boiled a pot of water, steeped a bag of tea, waited for the water to cool, sipped his drink, then prepared to throw the football. Newton's pass sailed high over the head of Jarius Wright on a crossing route over the middle. Panthers lose.
LionsPro Bowl corner Darius Slay, who was beaten on the touchdown score by D.J. Moore, summed up the Detroit's mentality on the two-point try.
"They ain't getting this (expletive)," Slay said. "Plain and simple."
Added Slay: "I'm glad they went for two -- win us the game. Put it on the defense. We want it on the defense anyways. I'm glad they went for two."
The Lions' defense made the plays when it counted to beat a playoff-caliber team at home.
Slay made perhaps the biggest play of the game, tracking down Moore on an 82-yard catch and run that would have given the Panthers a lead early in the third quarter. Slay made the touchdown-saving tackle, then the Lions defense stiffened at the goal line and Graham Gano's field goal attempt missed.
Rivera insisted Gano's misses (field goal and botched PAT) didn't play into his decision go for two points at the end.
In the end, the Panthers had a golden chance to swipe a win, but Newton couldn't connect.
"I gotta make that play," Newton said. "I feel as if, we make that play, (I) have all confidence in our defense stopping those guys. And we get a much-needed win on the road."
"This game is such a humbling game at times, and today I was humbled," he added. "It happens."
