Dave Canales' flea-flicker explanation reveals big problem with Panthers coach

NFL games are not won and lost on singular plays. Even if it's the final play, the game is much more than that. There are tons of opportunities. The Carolina Panthers had those opportunities, but they came up short.

However, games can swing on one play. The Panthers actually had a couple of brutal swings as a result of poor officiating, but the swing that occurred on one particular offensive play was the worst.

In the red zone, Dave Canales dialed up a flea-flicker, and Rico Dowdle fumbled the pitch. The Panthers did not recover. After, he doubled down and said he still liked the call. That's one of his biggest problems.

Dave Canales defends flea-flicker and exposes coaching flaw

It goes without saying that the flea-flicker call in the fourth quarter ended up poorly. The result doesn't necessarily mean the idea was bad every single time. This time, however, it was a bad idea.

Canales on the flea flicker call: pic.twitter.com/jGhuOrsOPg
— Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler) January 4, 2026

When pressed on it after the game, Dave Canales defended it, "An aggressive call. Knew they were going to play us in single-high there. Rico just slipped on the exchange. We took a shot. I like the call. I like the opportunity."

He was even asked what he was targeting with the call, and he somewhat feistily said, "Well, I don't want to get into that. We've got another game, potentially."

I have no problem with him refusing to reveal what he wanted to happen or being short with the reporters. In fact, that's good. He's usually unyieldingly positive, so it's nice to see a little bit of fire.

The problem lies in being unable to admit he was wrong. It was a bad playcall, and it backfired. It's not his fault they fumbled, but they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. It's totally fine to admit he made a mistake.

Surprisingly, that's not Canales' way. Whenever a playcall comes under scrutiny, he always says he likes it and that it just largely came down to execution. That's true, but sometimes, he needs to help his players out.

And sometimes, he needs to admit he was wrong. He didn't do it here, and he didn't do it on a silly play call that resulted in a turnover on the one-yard line against the San Francisco 49ers.

There's no shame in not having it all down pat in year three of calling plays and year two of being a head coach. There are going to be some growing pains, but Canales has to be humble enough to admit it and not throw his players under the bus.

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