Dave Canales admits to being 'emotionally charged' watching Bucs-Saints game

It's hard to find the right choice of words when talking about the current state of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They started the year off hot, then once again hit a midseason lull, and now are coming off a loss to one of the worst teams in the NFL, the New Orleans Saints.

With the loss and the Carolina Panthers on bye, the two are now tied for the NFC South lead with just four games remaining, including two where we will see the Bucs take on the Panthers.

Following the matchup between the Saints and Bucs, former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator and current Panthers head coach Dave Canales admitted to the media he was "emotionally charged" watching the game and hinted that he was indeed not rooting for the team that helped him get the Panthers job.

Dave Canales clearly happy with Bucs' loss to Saints

Dave Canales says he did watch yesterday’s Saint vs Bucs game and was admittedly “emotionally charged.”

I followed up and asked if he was cheering for the Saints. His reply…“anything helps” pic.twitter.com/Fcje44Pl9B
— Carolina Blitz (@KeepBlitzin) December 8, 2025

It is hard to blame Canales for rooting for the Saints, as it places his team even with the Bucs as he looks to win his first division title as a head coach.

Canales helped bring back a Bucs' offense that had been struggling the previous year with Baker Mayfield debuting at quarterback, but left after just one season to become the head guy in Carolina.

While his first season wasn't the best, he has turned things around in year two. A major focus of Canales was getting the most out of quarterback Bryce Young, and he seems to have unlocked Young's potential now that the young QB has the confidence to go out there and perform at a somewhat high level.

The Panthers and Canales are still building to become even better, but this 2025 season of theirs shows major promise for the future. With two games left out of four where the two will face each other, it will come down to those two games if both can win their other two. If the Bucs can at least win out while splitting their matchups with the Panthers, they would be in.

The matchups to end the season will be must-watch television and will, of course, have some juice behind them due to Canales' connection with the Bucs.

Stick with BucsGameday for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2025 season.

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