What Dave Canales said about Panthers' disastrous early lapses in Arizona

The Carolina Panthers wound up running 55 pass plays in yesterday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Bryce Young showed a lot of heart leading the comeback in the fourth quarter, bringing the Panthers within just one big play of erasing a 27-3 deficit. However, he just couldn't quite close the deal.

Impressive as the late surge was, it was an effort Young should have never had to make. If the Panthers had properly adjusted to a couple of early blitzes, they wouldn't have fallen behind 10-0 in the first place.

The first unblocked rusher was Josh Sweat, who strip-sacked Young, which led to a fumble return for a touchdown. The second was Mack Wilson, who hit Young has he threw the ball, leading to an interception, followed by a field goal.

After the game was over, here's what head coach Dave Canales had to say about those two critical lapses, according to Joe Person at The Athletic.

“They had a good pressure plan. We were on our assignments, but we didn’t execute the assignments. Bryce is in those situations, and sometimes it ain’t the worst thing if you’re in that situation to take a sack.. I also know he made some magical plays. I also know he does find ways to find guys down the field.”

#Panthers HC Dave Canales on the early miscues: pic.twitter.com/BSdoEMLxsJ
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) September 14, 2025

Star right guard Robert Hunt echoed the sentiment that it wasn't Young's fault - and gave credit to the Cardinals for coming up with a sharp pressure package.

While it's good to see that nobody has reached the point of openly blaming their teammates or their coaches - the fact is that it is somebody's fault that Arizona was able to get to Young so easily so early in the game. On the second hit Young probably should have taken the sack, but Canales should have had his offensive line - and his quarterback - better prepared for extra rushers.

Too often the Panthes have simply not been ready for simple things like that which happen in every single NFL game. The week before they also looked totally unprepared against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were being led by a first-game head coach.

If these big early lapses keep on happening Carolina's front office has to seriously consider firing Canales - and it would be a mistake to wait until the end of the season to do so.

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