Panthers coach Dave Canales ranked among worst NFL Week 1 play-callers

While a lot of players struggled, Carolina's second-year head coach may have had the worst performance on the team.

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. | [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]

Sunday's season opener for the Carolina Panthers repeated a pattern that's become all-too-familiar for the long-suffering franchise and its fans. Losing the first game of the season has become a tradition - and not only are they losing, they're doing it in the worst, most-embarrassing ways.

This latest loss is a classic example of why the Panthers haven't had a winning season in eight years. They're not just losing games, they're beating themselves by playing slopping football in all three phases and by getting consistently out-performed by the other team's coaching staff.

Carolina had a lot of terrible performances in Week 1, but the worst was arguably that of head coach Dave Canales, who looked to be completely overmatched by a head coach who was in his very first NFL game. According to one analysis, Canales was one of the league's worst playcallers last week, coming in at 29th.

Todd Monken picked up right where he left off last year.

Mike McDaniel has fallen off a cliff, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him as the first head coach fired. https://t.co/mlAYnBw7xk pic.twitter.com/D4JOtOmxeo

— Steven Patton (@PattonAnalytics) September 10, 2025

Canales' play-calling was not just uninspired, though. It featured an inexcusable issue that had been a recurring problem several times during his first year as head coach.

Time and time again, the Panthers wound the clock down to zero or near zero on every single offensive snap. At first we had assumed it was strategic and Canales was trying to shrink the game, but as it went on it became clear that there were communication issues.

Canales admitted the following day that there were problems getting the plays in on time - he claimed that he was responsible for part of the blame and Bryce Young was in part guilty, as well.

He only got it half right. If your quarterback consistently can't get plays to his teammates on time, that's a coaching issue in itself.

Canales still has time to turn things around, but it has to come really quick - or his team will be doomed to suffer another losing year. If his performance doesn't dramatically improve there will be good cause to make another head coaching change at the end of the season.

Dec 22, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales talks with quarterback Bryce Young (9) during a time out during the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at Bank of America Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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