Dave Canales details what went wrong in the lopsided loss to the Chicago Bears

A look at what the Carolina Panthers head coach had to say following the Week 5 loss.

Oct 6, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales takes the field against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images / David Banks-Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers were dominated by the Chicago Bears on Sunday, falling 36-10, and dropping their record to 1-4 on the year. Shortly after the game, head coach Dave Canales met with the media to discuss what went wrong in the loss and provided an injury update.

Opening Statement

"A rough one. It comes back to the basics. You had 17 points off of turnovers, then another one off a failed fourth down, so a 24-point swing. Again, right back the drawing board on third-down. Trying to figure out a way so we can continue our drives and get into a rhythm. We opened up with a great drive, the run game looks good. Their defense was fantastic. They settled in and made it challenging on us. It’s something we have to attack there.  The more we leave our defense out there over and over – we did not play complimentary football today. It makes it really hard and the turnovers make it worse. This is something we have to look at. Without having watched the film, that’s just the plain what it felt like for me happening live.  We’ll get right back to it. This is where that mental discipline of getting right back to work. Telling the truth of about the things we can sure up, I think I’ve made that clear.” 

On playing QB Bryce Young

“Just saw it as an opportunity there. We had a couple of injuries on the offense line. Again,  wanted to get him in there to get some live reps. He did a fantastic job, playing with energy,  extending plays, finding some completions downfield, that was fantastic. It is a hard situation but at that point with the different things happening on the offensive line it was something where I  wanted to get (QB) Andy (Dalton) out of there. Just give Bryce and opportunity to play some good  football while we still had time.” 

If there is a thought to going back to Bryce Young as the starter

“No Andy is our quarterback.” 

When they could get back to Young at quarterback

“I think it is about getting back to basics. Looking at this film, attacking the areas we need to improve upon. Then going to the next game and getting that focus right back to work and  capturing a great work week.” 

Going away from the run

“It was really the third downs. It was a bad day on third down and it didn’t allow us to continue in the rhythm. I like trying to mix things. If I just keep running the ball they are going to play defense that way. Trying to find that mix in rhythm, not extending those drives. You get a couple of plays, you’re punting, you’re trying to find a rhythm, it gets hard. I would have loved to have made half of those third downs so we could see what this run game could have been today because I thought our guys blocked well, I thought our guys pressed the hole. To get into that  flow and rhythm of it, we didn’t allow ourselves a chance to do that.” 

The number of injuries

“It hurts. The guys are playing so hard and when you look at the injuries we had today, these were contact injuries. Shoulders, concussion, a triceps thing. These are impact injuries. It is a violent sport; you always have those risks when you go into a game. I never hope it would turn out like this. Just another challenge and another opportunity for guys to step up who we are counting on as we look at this week. We will have to evaluate everyone and get more  information.” 

Offensive line injuries

“Yes, so I'm not completely clear on (C Austin) Corbett. I know (T) Taylor (Moton) got hit right  below his arm, so we have to kind of evaluate that whole area to see what it is.” 

The play that led to ejections

We just have to continue to control our emotions in a really hard game. Emotions run high right there. He was instigated. We can't retaliate. They always catch the second person. Actually, fairly the officials kind of saw all that happened and officiated the proper way. But we've just got to maintain our composure and on a day like this let's finish with class, let's finish on our terms, and then we'll get back to work. As long as there's time on the clock, let's just play our kind of football.  The guys played hard, but we can take care of each other in those situations.” 

Caleb Williams' game

“I just thought he did a fantastic job extending plays. We had him dead to rights a couple times.  He wiggled out of great rushes, great pressure on him. We had things covered, live looking at it,  and he extended the play and found completions. He played efficiently. The first drive (CB) Jaycee  (Horn) has got a ball in his hands, would love to turn that into points right there. But I thought he settled in and just played good football, and that's what they're expecting of him. I know a lot of those guys on that staff, I see this team continuing to improve weekly, and they came out and they played hard again and gave us a great challenge, and we were not up to the challenge today.  We were up to the challenge mentally, but it didn't turn out that way. I've got to tip my cap to  the Bears and that staff for just continuing to push forward and really get to the heart and soul  of their core, their scheme, and just the way they play hard.” 

Defensive injuries

“We have to deal with what we have, so I'll have more information after we look at it and evaluate it, but this is a contact sport, and the thing I have to say is our guys play the game right, and they play it hard and physical, and they're looking to hit and finish these tackles, and they're playing with such great effort, you put yourself in situations where you can be vulnerable. I always go into the games and I'm just hoping, like, that we can play this style. You hate when it happens,  but it's a part of our game. But again, like I said last week with Josey and Shaq, it’s guys playing  the game the right way, the way it's supposed to be played, and we have to continue to do that.”

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