If Dave Canales coached a team in a more high-profile market, he’d receive more national attention for the job he’s doing with the Carolina Panthers
If Dave Canales coached a team in a more high-profile market, he’d receive more national attention for the job he’s doing with the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers are overachieving in Canales’ second season.
They’ve already surpassed their projected win total and are in the chase for the NFC South title. While Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson and Liam Coen have led impressive turnarounds in their first season with new teams — Vrabel’s Patriots are 11-2, Johnson’s Bears are 9-3 and Coen's Jaguars are 8-4 — Canales is working with less overall talent on the roster. Bryce Young has had an up-and-down first three seasons and there still are question marks about the 2023 No. 1 overall pick. He was excellent in a stunning 31-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. That was Carolina’s second upset over one of the NFC’s best teams in a month. In Week 9, they went to Lambeau Field and defeated the Green Bay Packers 16-13. “We always have belief. We know we have what it takes in this building. We don’t worry about the outside opinions,” Young said. The Panthers enter a bye week just a half game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the race for the division title. They’ll face the Buccaneers in two of the final three games so they control their playoff fate. “Our best football is still out there in front of us and that’s our goal is to find it,” Canales said. Before going to Carolina, Canales spent one season as the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay. He helped Baker Mayfield revive his career after having success in Seattle developing Geno Smith. Canales brings energy, positivity and has changed the culture in Carolina. The Panthers are two wins away from securing their first winning season since 2017. “Coach 100% positive every day,” said Panthers defensive lineman Derrick Brown, whose strip-sack of Matthew Stafford secured the win over the Rams. “There’s certain things like effort and stuff like that, like he can handle a guy making a mistake, but when it comes to the effort, he has no patience for that. And that’s about the only thing that’ll make him tick. But, man, high energy. I mean, from the time you get here in the morning to the time he leaves in the evening, he is consistently the same person year round.” San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey became the second player in NFL history to have 800 yards rushing and 800 yards receiving in three different seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk. McCaffrey has run for 849 rushing yards and eight touchdowns and has 85 catches for 806 yards and five TDs. He’s the third player in NFL history with at least 1,600 scrimmage yards and 13 touchdowns in five career seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson and Shaun Alexander . McCaffrey is on pace for 111 receptions, which would be the second most by a running back. He holds the record with 116 catches in 2019. He had 107 in 2018. Since joining San Francisco midway through 2022, McCaffrey has played in 50 games and has scored 52 TDs, tied with George Kittle for ninth in franchise history. “He is really good at finding the open hole,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He’s got an elite vision and it’s hard to create creases down there but if you can, he usually finds it. That’s what he does best.” The NFC North-leading Bears currently hold the No. 1 seed in the conference and they’re winning despite a mediocre passing attack. Caleb Williams has the lowest completion rate among quarterbacks who have started 10 games. He completed a season-low 47.2% in an upset over the Eagles on a windy day in Philadelphia last Friday. “There’s no question, I will say in regards to Friday, that that was one of the more challenging games in terms of the wind,' Johnson said. 'So, I would say that plays a part, but there’s a number of them that we’ve been talking about where we have to fundamentally be correct. The primary receiver, when he is open, we want to make sure we hit him. And then, all of our pass catchers, we just harped on it today. We need to be more disciplined in our route detail. It’s not where it needs to be. Our depths are not proper all the time. Our steps aren’t. And so, everybody’s got a role to play to get this pass game cleaned up. It’s not where it needs to be. We’re winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it. None of us are pleased with that right now.” ___ On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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