Sunday is Panthers head coach Dave Canales' time to put his money where his mouth is

Matt Alquiza | Sep 14, 2024

Sep 8, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales talks to down judge Derick Bowers (74) on a time out against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at Caesars Superdome. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Dave Canales’ NFL debut went nothing like he expected. The meditative man of faith has dreamed of the day he would coach an NFL team for quite some time. Canales’ rise from JV head coach at Carson High school to the NFL sidelines has been well-documented, but I’m confident none of those dreams involved a 47-10 drubbing at the hands of a division rival in his first outing with the headset on. 

The outcome of Sunday’s game was a familiar one for Panthers fans, but the fact that the road to that outcome was a staunch reminder of years past is of utmost concern. Undisciplined, unprepared, and ultimately, unsuccessful football doomed the Carolina Panthers from the opening kickoff. The epicenter of Sunday’s disaster was sophomore quarterback Bryce Young. 

The marriage of Canales and Young promised happy matrimony, but the first public appearance for the NFL's preseason "it" couple looked like a fractured mess. Bryce Young was uncomfortable all afternoon. He airmailed pass after pass, looking indecisive and unsure of how to navigate a mostly clean pocket. The number one overall pick was forced to drop back 38 times on Saturday, a number that Dave Canales is assuredly uncomfortable with. 

In his opening press conference and many that followed, Canales promised that his Carolina Panthers squad would be stubborn about running the football, and he built a team to do just that. The beefy offensive line that Canales and Dan Morgan built is a fivesome hand-crafted to push piles. Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders are a pair of complimentary backs that can pick up large chunks and churn out tough gains. That duo touched the ball 11 times total on the ground. Carolina spent all Sunday chasing a game that was well out of reach, and they were never able to establish their potent ground attack. A reality that comes when you allow nine scores on nine defensive drives. 

How Dave Canales can help Bryce Young most

The defense is another story, but the best thing Canales can do for his quarterback and football team is to pound the rock on Sunday afternoon. A dominant ground game can do wonders for a struggling outfit. It keeps the defense off the field. It insulates the quarterback from feeling pressure to carry the offense on his shoulders. It allows the offensive line to get in a rhythm. And it shortens a game in which Carolina is a five point underdog, raising their chances to spring an upset. In the modern NFL where two-high safeties are putting lids on the top of high-flying passing offenses, Canales and his squad would be wise to keep the ball on the ground and out of the paths of safeties looking to make a play.  

The best teams in Carolina Panthers history have been built on the ground. Smash and Dash, Thunder and Lightning, Cam Newton, Steve Wilks and Ben McAdoo’s 2022 closing stretch. All Panthers luminaries that manufactured explosive passing gains with a hard-nosed rushing attack.

Sunday is time for Canales to put his money where his mouth is. Establishing the run has become a meme in the 2020s NFL that throws shade at coaches with a decrepit, old-school mindset, but there is value in imposing your will on the ground. Look for Canales to do so on Sunday in his quest to put the disastrous week one blowout in his rear view mirror.

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