Like Belichick, Rivera's fourth-down approach has been swayed by statistics. Citing a report by a professor at his alma mater, UC Berkeley, Rivera conceded that conventional wisdom surrounding those situations might be flawed.
Anecdotally, it certainly seemed that way yesterday, with Cleveland Browns coach Rob Chudzinski (Rivera's offensive coordinator the previous two seasons in Carolina) closing out a 24-18 victory over the Baltimore Ravens thanks to a late fourth-down conversion, and beleaguered Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier passing on a chance to go for a fourth-and-5 clincher against the Dallas Cowboys, only to watch Tony Romo engineer a game-winning touchdown drive.
"There's a stats professor at Cal who did a study on fourth down and concluded you're more apt to make it on fourth down than on third down," Rivera said. "So is that the new book? My attitude is, forget 'The Book.' Instead of us having to stop the other team, let's make 'em do the things they have to do to stop us."