NFL fans thought the Panthers got the short end of the stick from the officiating crew on Saturday after several questionable calls went against Carolina in a 16-14 loss to the Buccaneers. But Panthers coach Dave Canales didn't see it that way.
Speaking to reporters, Canales refused to blame the defeat on anything but the Panthers' own offensive ineptitude.
“I did. I don’t really want to get into that, because we just didn’t play well enough offensively speaking,” Canales said. “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.
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“Some missed opportunities out there, so it really just has to be on us and about the execution and making sure we’re in the right places at the right time.”
As Canales pointed out, Carolina was held to just 19 rushing yards, converted only eight of 15 third downs and committed three turnovers, including two of them in Buccaneers' territory. But it was difficult not to notice some of the controversial penalty calls made by the officials.
Canales addresses two controversial penalties from Panthers' loss
On a first-and-10 from the Buccaneers' 34-yard line with 11:45 remaining in the third quarter and the Panthers trailing 13-7, Carolina quarterback Bryce Young threw what appeared to be a backwards pass to running back Rico Dowdle, who dropped the ball. The referees blew the play dead and ruled it an incomplete pass, but later changed the ruling to a “backwards pass that went out of bounds.” The ball never appeared to go out of bounds and by initially blowing the play dead, the officials cost Dowdle a chance at picking up a few yards up the field.
On the Panthers' ensuing offensive possession, an offensive pass interference call against rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan negated a 32-yard completion from Young to McMillan, ultimately stalling a drive and forcing Carolina to punt.
“I spoke with them,” Canales said when asked about the pass interference call on McMillan. “They’re not going to overturn that call live. But I spoke with them right after it happened. I just wanted to know, ‘What did you see and what was the call?’”
The Panthers coach said he did not speak to officials about the backwards pass ruling.
Canales, in what was a theme for his presser when asked about any of the controversial penalties in particular, deferred to the call the officials made on the field. But while he didn't show it at the podium, frustrations with officials got to even Canales at one point during the game, when broadcast cameras caught the Panthers coaching mouthing the words “he tripped” to line judge Walter Flowers after a defensive pass interference call against Carolina defensive back Nick Scott in the third quarter.
Panthers' loss leaves NFC South fate up to Falcons, Saints
Carolina would have clinched the NFC South with a win over the Buccaneers. Instead, the Panthers now await the result of Falcons-Saints, leaving the division title up to a tiebreaker. Should the Falcons win, the Panthers will capture the division via a three-team tiebreaker. Should the Saints win, the Buccaneers will win the division thanks to its superior record to Carolina in games with common opponents.
“I think we're all going to be on the edge of our seats tomorrow watching that game hoping for the outcome,” Canales said. “Hoping for the Falcons to pull through.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dave Canales Refuses to Blame Panthers' Loss to Buccaneers on Poor Officiating.
