Dave Canales won’t blame refs in Panthers’ loss to Bucs. Here’s what he said
The Carolina Panthers were thoroughly outplayed on third down, were outproduced in total yards and were reckless with the ball when they couldn’t afford to be.
Head coach Dave Canales acknowledged all this postgame.
One place where the second-year head coach refused to assign blame, however?
The officiating.
After his team’s 16-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — one that leaves the NFC South up for grabs heading into Sunday — Canales answered to everything that went wrong for his team in Tampa.
That included the team’s lack of rushing production (19 net rushing yards) and quarterback Bryce Young’s day. That also included the strange predicament the Panthers are in now: having to root for the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at 1 p.m. — because if the Falcons beat the Saints, the Panthers are in the postseason for the first time since 2017.
But Canales had a simple explanation for how he viewed the officiating and how it impacted Saturday’s contest.
“I don’t really want to get into that because we just didn’t play well enough offensively speaking,” Canales said. “We didn’t get our run game going, a bad day on third down, which doesn’t give us an opportunity to extend the drives and really have a balanced offense the way that we can play. Some missed opportunities out there, so it really just has to be on us and about the execution and all of us making sure we’re in the right place at the right time.”
Three official decisions in particular earned public ire. There was the Young pass to Rico Dowdle, which was initially whistled dead after the ball hit the ground — signaling an incompletion — but then was ruled a lateral pass and set the Panthers up at second-and-17. There was also an offensive pass interference call on Panthers rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan that negated one of the Panthers’ few explosive plays in the game. There was also the play in which tight end Tommy Tremble got his helmet ripped off via a facemask that wasn’t called on the field.
Canales, meanwhile, said that the game was decided in other facets, no matter how tempting it is to blame referees.
“(The officiating) certainly is a factor, but there’s a whole game we got to consider, and we didn’t get enough done. That’s what we got to look at ourselves and the things that we missed, and I’m sure there’s going to be some opportunities when we watch the film that we’re going to wish we would have had.”
Though there were many missed opportunities on the Carolina sideline, there were also some standout performances.
Young completed 24 of 35 passes for 266 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 98. His leading receivers were McMillan — whose 85 receiving yards officially made him the franchise record-holder for rookie receiving yards, surpassing Kelvin Benjamin — and Jalen Coker (six catches for 47 yards and a score).
Defensive lineman Derrick Brown finished with a team-leading 13 tackles, with safety Nick Scott (nine) and linebacker (eight) right behind him. Christian Rozeboom also recorded his first interception of his season.
Here’s what Canales said after his team’s Week 18 loss — and the uncertainty that comes with it.
Opening statement
“First of all, I’ll just say congratulations to the Bucs. They played phenomenally on defense today. Offensively, they made some points. They capitalized on some of our turnovers. They had those early scores and our defense kind of settled in and made them settle for field goals, which puts us right back into the game at the end there.
“But I’m proud of our group. I’m proud of the way we battle. The way we played all the way to the end. Just believing if we have time and downs, we got a chance in this thing and the way the guys came together and fought together, I was really proud of that part. And now, you know, it’s in the hands of another game and that’s not what we were hoping for, but there’s still hope, they’re still alive and the locker room certainly is sick about a missed opportunity. But I can’t take anything away from the Bucs and the way they played today.”
Any explanation for the several controversial calls?
“I did. I don’t really want to get into that because we just didn’t play well enough offensively speaking. We didn’t get our run game going, a bad day on third down, which doesn’t give us an opportunity to extend the drives and really have a balanced offense the way that we can play. Some missed opportunities out there, so it really just has to be on us and about the execution and all of us making sure we’re in the right place at the right time.”
Later on same topic: “(The officiating) certainly is a factor, but there’s a whole game we got to consider, and we didn’t get enough done. That’s what we got to look at ourselves and the things that we missed and I’m sure there’s going to be some opportunities when we watch the film that we’re going to wish we would have had.”
On Tetairoa McMillan’s third-quarter offensive pass interference call: “I mean, there are hands extended. I was not watching TMac on the play. I was kind of watching the entire secondary and seeing where the ball was gonna go. He certainly had an opportunity. Got to just go with what they called live ... I’m sure I’ll have a chance to look at it and see what it is.”
On fourth-quarter flea flicker that resulted in Rico Dowdle losing fumble to Bucs
“An aggressive call. Knew they were going to play some single high right there and we just, Rico slipped on the exchange and we took a shot right there. I liked the call. I liked the opportunity that it presented us right there in the red zone to take advantage of it, and we didn’t get that done.”
On if it was open: “I don’t want to get into that, we got another game potentially.”
Is that a play you like at that part of the field? (The Panthers were near the red zone.) “Absolutely. ... It’s just an aggressive call that I had the right look on.”
On Panthers running game troubles
“Bucs played us really well. We didn’t block them good enough. They disrupted us up front. They fit their gaps and made sure we were getting ones, twos, and threes, and just really stopped our run game, and so we had to do some other things to try to make some yards.”
How did weather affect Panthers and Bucs?
“Yeah, weather was certainly a factor, but it was weather for the Bucs too and they found a way to execute, and we didn’t.”
On players wearing longer spikes on their cleats: “Yeah, the turf was what it was and we could tell that pregame and guys felt comfortable with certain footwear and we had a couple of slips and guys wanted to go to a longer — they had long enough cleats to begin with, but they wanted to go to a longer type of cleats that have that foot in the ground. And so any edge you can get, any competitive edge you can find, it’s worth trying especially in this game.”
Will you watch the Falcons-Saints game on Sunday?
“I mean, shoot, I think we’re all going to be on the edge of our seats tomorrow watching that game, you know? Hoping for the outcome, hoping for the Falcons to pull through, but at the same time, at least we have that hope to look at. We have to look at ourselves, and we have to make sure that in these championship moments that we play our best.”
On Bryce Young’s first-half interception
“Guy made a jump on the ball.”
On disappointment of failing to clinch a playoff berth two weekends in a row
“Missed opportunities, absolutely. These are the championship moments that we live for, that we prepare for, that we talk about. And to not be able to get that done, to not be able to play our best football in these moments ... certainly that’s what we’re all disappointed about, the whole group together, and we have to find a way to be able to play in these types of games.
“And I’m really excited about our group. I’m really excited about the different pieces that we’re getting going, and I told the group we don’t ever have to feel this way again. We can build from this. We have to take the next steps and make sure that we show up with the championship mindset.”
Bryce Young’s level of execution
“I felt like he was competitive and gave our guys some chances and early on. It was wet. He lasered some balls in there; a couple of third downs we could have converted early in the game I think would have helped us continue our rhythm offensively.”
On his view of the NFC South; the title winner will have a losing record
“It’s a grimy, gritty division. Between our team, between the Falcons and the Bucs, we have had our share of wins against top opponents in this league. We all play a similar style of football and the pride of it is on just physicality and playing really tough and that’s where this division is headed. I’m proud to be part of it.
“Whatever the record ends up at the end, I know that for whoever gets to get into this postseason, they’re going to bring a physical brand of football, and I think that that travels well, running the football on defense really travels well. We weren’t able to get the running part done today, but I’m proud to be part of this division and I know going forward in the future this is something that’s exciting but also just seeing the different teams that are around, the challenges that are presented by finding out who gets to win this division and who’s going to compete for it.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 10:08 PM.
