Dave Canales had ridiculous answer to why he kept Andy Dalton in game

It only took a couple of drives for it to become abundantly clear that Andy Dalton was not up to the task of leading the Carolina Panthers yesterday.

Dalton put in the worst game we've seen from a Panthers quarterback since Bryce Young utterly bombed the first two starts of the 2024 season. When he wasn't committing turnovers Dalton was pump faking himself into sacks and making bizarre mistakes for a veteran with his experience.

Any head coach would have been well justified in taking Dalton off the field and seeing what their third-stringer Hendon Hooker could do, but Dave Canales refused and let Dalton continue laying eggs up until the end of the fourth quarter.

When he was asked why he didn't take Dalton out, Canales claimed he wanted to give Dalton a chance to bounce back.

Dave Canales says he stuck with Andy Dalton through disastrous game to give him a chance to bounce back. #Panthers pic.twitter.com/JmUr78JDER
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) October 26, 2025

This is bad.

If Canales is being honest about why he kept Dalton out there, it's a genuinely concerning sign for how his tenure as head coach of this team is going to go.

You don't have to be a peak Bill Parcells type of jerk to compete - and win - in this league, but acting as a people pleaser is a surefire way to lose.

It would have been no great insult to Dalton and what he's accomplished in his career to pull him yesterday - and the fact that Canales wasn't willing to may also explain the bizarre arrangement he has going at running back.

For the second straight week the Panthers alternated Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle in the backfield on each drive - even though Dowdle was far more efficient last week - and the same dynamic held true yet again on Sunday.

Canales stuck with the rotation, though - we must assume because he doesn't want Hubbard to feel bad about losing his spot as the starting running back.

The Panthers are simply not going to get very far if Canales is putting relationships ahead of football - and it's becoming clear that football is not the top priority at running back. If it was, Dowdle would have continued starting and getting the vast majority of the carries the last two games.

At this rate we would rather see what Ejiro Evero can do as a head coach - because even if they win a game or two or three the rest of the season - Canales is going to keep the Panthers' ceiling very low if he continues to make decisions this way.

Oct 12, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on during the first half against the Dallas Cowboys at Bank of America Stadium. | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

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