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Dave Canales won’t bash the officiating crew following the Carolina Panthers’ 16-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 18 of the 2025 NFL season on Saturday afternoon.
Going into the game, Carolina had a chance to qualify for the playoffs with a win over Tampa Bay. However, the squad came up short of the opportunity as they will need assistance from a divisional colleague on Sunday afternoon.
Canales reflected on the loss after the game, per reporter Alex Zietlow. The head coach gave credit to Tampa Bay for exposing Carolina’s mistakes while shutting down any chance to call out the officiating.
“They capitalized on some of our turnovers. And you know that they had those early scores, and our defense kind of settled in and made them settle for field goals, which puts us right back into the game at the end there, but I’m just I’m proud of our group. I’m proud of the way we battle, the way we played all the way to the end, just believing if we got time and downs, we got a chance in this thing, and the way the guys came together and fought together. I was really proud of that part,” Canales said.
“I don’t really want to get into that, because we just didn’t play well enough offensively speaking. We didn’t get our run game going, a bad day on third down, which doesn’t give us an opportunity to extend the drives and really have a balanced offense the way that we can play some missed opportunities out there. So I really just has to be on us and about the execution and all of us making sure we’re, you know, in the right place at the right time.”
#Panthers coach Dave Canales opens his postgame press conference by giving credit to the #Bucs and also refusing to blame the refs for the team’s loss. pic.twitter.com/oDWct93K7E
— Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05) January 4, 2026
Dave Canales and the Panthers are right to feel heartbreak after being unable to get the job done against the Buccaneers. Despite the loss, they remain alive in the playoff race.
Carolina finishes the regular season with an 8-9 record, currently sitting at second place in the NFC South Division standings. They are above the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints while trailing the Buccaneers. Canales talked about what it will take for his team to make the playoffs despite the loss.
“It’s in the hands of another game, and that’s not what we were hoping for, but there’s still hope. They’re still alive. And you know, the locker room certainly is sick about a missed opportunity, but I can’t take anything away from the bucks in the way they played today,” Canales said.
The Panthers will hope for the best when the Falcons face the Saints on Jan. 4 at 1 p.m. ET. Their playoff destiny literally lies in Atlanta’s hands.
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