What Dave Canales said about keeping Carolina Panthers' play-calling duties

The Carolina Panthers are in freefall after a 42-13 loss in Week 4 on the road against the New England Patriots.

Sep 14, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on during the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

One week removed from a shutout victory, Dave Canales' Carolina Panthers had an embarrassing showing against the New England Patriots. The 42-13 loss put the head man himself on the hot seat after the game as reporters questioned whether he's considering handing off play-calling duties to someone else.

The Panthers had more first downs than the Patriots, and yet when it came to the play-calling in the critical moments, Bryce Young and the offense failed to convert on nine of 14 third downs and on two of three fourth-down conversion attempts.

MORE: Bryce Young's numbers on opening drives & after point to huge problem for Panthers

Sep 28, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson (44) defends Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) during the first half at Gillette Stadium. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Canales directly addressed whether he believes it's time to hand off play-calling during his post-game press conference. He told reporters that he still believes he's the right man for the job.

"Uh, not right now," Canales said. "I believe that I'm the right person to push our concepts and our schemes forward. I think it's a combination of a bunch of things. You know, execution-wise, am I calling the right plays rythmically for the guys to have success based on what the defense is doing to us on that day, that's definitely something that I'll look at though."

Though Canales is just calling the plays, not running them himself, he took full responsibility for the failures in execution on both sides of the ball. He said post-game that it's time for a good, long look in the mirror before Week 5.

MORE: Panthers TE Tommy Tremble gets brutally honest about blowout loss to Patriots

Sep 28, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales meet at mid field after the Patriots defeated the Panthers at Gillette Stadium. | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

"Just the collective execution when it happens in all phases, I'm the common denominator," he said. "And I have to take responsibility for that. I have to make sure that I'm pushing the guys the right way. I have to evaluate what we're doing, how we're working, and how we're preparing our guys.

"I felt confident about that part, but we're not getting the results, and so this is something where I have to really just press in and make sure that we're not overlooking anything and make sure we're having the right combination of guys out there, in every phase."

Canales is now 6-15 in two seasons as the Panthers head coach. He and the Panthers have another opportunity to jump-start the season with a Week 5 matchup against the 0-3 Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

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