What Dave Canales said after Panthers squander big opportunity against Saints
There first was the Bryce Young pass that was batted into the air that fell safely to the turf.
There then was the Young interception that was negated by a roughing the passer call.
Then there was the play that made many scratch their heads — the one when the Carolina Panthers’ game-tying field goal was blocked only for an esoteric NFL rule to award the Panthers with the ball, a new set of downs and great field position.
The Panthers, beneficiaries of gift after gift Sunday, couldn’t do enough in their 17-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints and fell to 5-5. The Saints rose to 2-8. Such a loss represents a squandered opportunity for the franchise — and yet another erratic data point in a confusing and unpredictable Panthers season.
The individual stats bear out such a situation:
Young, who for his career has not been great against the Saints, finished 17 of 25 for 124 yards and an interception. He also got credited with a fumble as — only a few plays after the aforementioned field goal attempt — he tried to hand the ball off to jet-sweeping wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr.
Running back Rico Dowdle also struggled for really the first time as the Panthers’ starter. He finished with 18 carries for 53 yards and one touchdown — the one that punctuated the first drive of the game, when the game, and the season, felt a lot different.
Tetairoa McMillan led all Carolina receivers with five catches for 60 yards on eight targets.
The Saints, meanwhile, saw an offensive explosion from rookie Tyler Shough, who went 19 of 27 for 282 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 128.9. The enduring moment of the game is probably the deep touchdown pass between Shough and Chris Olave — the one that saw Olave shrugging off cornerback Jaycee Horn and then scampering into the end zone, then jumping into a Panthers field-side fan section.
Head coach Dave Canales answered to all of this — the in-game missed opportunities as well as the broader squandered chance — after the contest Sunday. Here are highlights from his postgame news conference.
Opening statement: ‘Gotta give credit to the Saints’
“First and foremost, gotta give credit to the Saints for executing a game plan. They came here, they had a style about how they were going to do it, came out with some big plays, some explosives, which is an area that we have to shore up there. Some great one-on-one opportunities they took advantage of.
“We turned the ball over twice. They didn’t. … Missed opportunities across the board. And I look at it: I gotta do a better job. I gotta do a better job so that we have answers and complements to our run game. They did a fantastic job of taking care of that part of it. And we hit a couple of passes but not enough. I gotta make sure that we put our heads together and game plan so that we have answers for when a team (stops us from effectively) running the ball.”
Why does the Panthers’ pass game struggle creating vertical plays?
“It’s something we’re working on. It’s just taking advantage of those opportunities 1-on-1 down the field. And it comes down to just me-to-you factor, making those plays. At the same time, from a game plan standpoint, I gotta make sure we’re putting our guys at the right spots and taking advantage of matchups.”
On Saints receivers having big days
“They just made their plays. Some phenomenal 1-on-1 opportunities. Obviously the long touchdown: Jaycee would be the first one to tell you that he can stay up and make that play right there. Olave made another one-handed grab right in front of our sideline. They hit us with a couple of big plays there. They extended on the couple off-rhythm throws. Tyler Shough did a great job of extending the play, finding guys down the field in the extension of it. We have to do a better job containing him there, and then making sure we stay attached. We did not get that done.”
Was that Chris Olave touchdown offensive pass interference?
“I don’t know. I will have to look at the replay on that one. But I think he’d be the first one here to take responsibility for the one-on-one opportunities, regardless of what’s happening on the other side. We gotta make sure that we stay on top and make those plays.”
More on Panthers pass-game struggles:
I think it’s just timing and rhythm. But it’s also the choices. The type of passes. That’s something that starts with me, and I gotta make sure I look at that, and make sure that we’re putting our guys in the right situations with the matchups and leverages that we’re working with to give them access so that Bryce feels confident to throw to the guys in different spots.”
What Dave Canales saw on Bryce Young’s interception:
“Just a good play by the buzz defender. He ran underneath No. 1 outside, made a great play on the ball. Bryce, I’m sure he’d tell you, he’d love to have that one back. But it was a really nice play by Alontae Taylor, give him credit for that.”
Post-game locker room vibes
“Frustration. Because we didn’t play our version of football. That was not us. We can’t have that. We can’t give up big plays, and we can’t turn the ball over. Offense has to be more opportunistic and take advantage of some of the situations where the defense made some adversity stops for us and got us the ball back over and over in the second half, and we didn’t come away with anything off of it.”
How do you find answers in the passing game when Rico Dowdle proves to be human?
“That’s what we’re working on, and we gotta make sure we take advantage of the loaded line of scrimmage. We got a couple plays out there. Just trying to find those right styles for our guys based on what the coverage is.”
Nic Scourton’s big day
“He’s taking great strides. Week in, week out. He gets better. He’s into it. He’s working hard. He’s improving. He’s taking to the coaching and applying it to the game. So I’m really proud of him for that. There are some technique things, some little stuff that we gotta make sure we’re really disciplined on, starting with the run game. Certainly with our pass rush and lanes and letting Tyler get out a couple of times, and you miss plays. We gotta do a better job there.”
What’d you see on the missed field goal?
“A block. I just saw a good push. We knew that about this group. They’re a big group, really physical on the inside. They got their best guys out there pushing the guards and doing things, and they executed it really to perfection to get the ball down. We hustled to get the ball back once it advanced past the line of scrimmage. They were reviewing that for a while. But it was just really well-executed.”
On whether the field goal kick was low: I’ll have to look at it again to see if it was lower than normal. I just know that it got a good push and got their hands up.”
Xavier Legette and his recent struggles
“I think X is running fast. He’s doing everything we ask of him. I think if you just broadened it out a little bit and looked at the full group, we need better execution in general, and that starts with me making sure that we have the right schemes for our guys.”
What happened on the jet sweep fumble? Did Jimmy Horn Jr. know he was getting the ball there?
“Absolutely. It was just a poor exchange. We gotta make sure we’re sharper on all these little things.”
Overall assessment of Bryce Young’s day
“I think just generally it’s our group making sure that we’re advancing our pass game so that we can be a balanced offense. And making sure that we know: Yes, we can run the football, but there are going to be days like this where a team is really stout, and they play us well. We have to be able to adjust and go to that phase of our game and make that come to life.”
How is Bryce Young throwing the ball, specifically?
“I think he’s throwing the ball great. I think he’ll have some plays that he’ll tell you that he would like to have back. But in general, this is not about Bryce. This is about our group. This is about us taking a step so that we can be a balanced offense.”
Was Tetairoa McMillan 100% today?
“He looked great to me.”
Do you feel like you’re spreading the ball around enough?
“I think just general pass game success will get the ball distributed. But we have to find that rhythm. And the ball will find guys in different zones, in different areas based on where the read goes. We certainly are trying to make TMac an emphasis of what we’re doing, and that continues to be a part of what we’re doing. But we count on the other guys to make those plays as well. But I think it’s just collectively where we have to go as a pass game.”
Any possibility you looked past the Saints this week?
“I certainly hope not. Our approach is to come back to work every week regardless of the opponent. We’re in pursuit of our best football. That was not our best today. And we did not let the things that we’ve been successful with come alive today. So we have to make sure we take the next opponent and look at what they’re doing and have that type of mentality. Our mindset has to be to find our best football. It can’t depend on who the opponent is. It’s how you respect a bunch of pros. Every week, they’re going to bring a bus full of pros. We have to make sure that we’re detailed, locked in, and get back on track with our work.”
Update on Trevin Wallace’s injury
“We’re evaluating Trevin on a right shoulder. We’ll have more information as the rest of the week goes on.”
This story was originally published November 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM.
