TAMPA, Fla.— A week ago, Dave Canales wasn’t pacing a sideline or dialing up plays. Instead he sat on his couch, remote in hand. But the Carolina Panthers head coach was very much invested in the outcome of the game in front of him.

The New Orleans Saints, who happened to be Carolina’s next opponent following their bye week, were on their way to beating the Bucs and tightening the NFC South race.

“I was watching the game, yeah, wanted to make sure that I was connected to the story of it,” Canales said. “I got to be honest, I got a little emotionally involved in the game, you know, at times. And it’s something I try to remind our players, ‘Hey, watch these games, let’s try not to get too emotionally connected.’

“But how can you not? You know, it impacts all of us in this division. And certainly, it impacts us going into this week with another division opponent.”

Was he cheering for the Saints?

“I mean, anything that helps, right?” Canales said.

You remember Canales, the Bucs offensive coordinator, for only the 2023 season. He’s credited for helping quarterback Baker Mayfield restart his career following stints with the Cleveland Browns, Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.

Canales went 5-12 in his inaugural season with the Panthers but helped turn around franchise quarterback Bryce Young after benching him for two games at the start of the 2024 season for poor performance.

Now the Panthers sit atop the division with a 7-6 record heading into Sunday’s game at New Orleans, a team they lost to earlier in the year.

Canales, 44, said he didn’t stay up Thursday night to watch the Atlanta Falcons rally from a 14-point deficit to beat the Bucs, but he acknowledged it was a dream scenario for the Panthers.

“I watched the first half,” Canales said during his news conference Friday. “And you know, 8 o’clock kicks here so it’s around 10 o’clock, got to sleep with the workday in front of me and woke up and found out what the score was.

“If I’m asking the guys to be focused on this week, I have to as well.”

The Panthers could clinch the NFC South with a win over the Saints in New Orleans and by beating the Bucs in Charlotte on Dec. 21. On the other hand, the Bucs could maintain their dominance in the division by beating the Panthers twice in the next three weeks.

Frankly, the Bucs could use some of that sunshine Canales used to spread to them during his one season as offensive coordinator.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield described Canales as “an optimist bully” for the over-the-top positivity he began each day with.

After a 5-1 start, Tampa Bay is mired in a 1-5 slump and negativity threatens to overwhelm One Buc Place.

It was on full display during Todd Bowles’ profanity-laced rant following the Bucs’ 29-28 loss to the Falcons, in which he heaped the biggest share of the blame on his players.

“The coaches have done everything they can do,” Bowles said. “It’s a player-driven team in the last four or five weeks. You’ve got to execute and they’ve got to hold each other accountable.

“As a coach, you can sit there until you’re blue in the face, but until they start holding each other accountable and doing the little things right — and that’s not everybody, we’re talking about a small select few, but a small select few is what’s getting us beat — and until that happens, it’s not going to get right.”

The Bucs must beat Carolina twice in their next three games to keep from relinquishing the NFC South crown. A year ago, they swept the Panthers with a 26-23 overtime win at Carolina and a 48-14 rout in Tampa.

But that’s easier said than done. The Panthers are playing with confidence and enthusiasm spread by Canales.

“I think Dave has done a great job of sticking with who he is and getting his message across to these guys,” Bowles said. “No matter whether they won or lost, his attitude and the way they went about learning from their losses and getting better that next week and sticking to his message has really resonated with those guys, and I think they’re coming around and they’re showing it and you can see it.

“That’s a big credit to him. He was like that when he was here as well with the offensive guys on this side of the football and I think he’s doing a great job that way getting his message across.”

It‘s an interesting contrast. On paper, the Bucs would seem to have the better team and the return of receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan and running back Bucky Irving should underscore that.

But unless the Bucs are able to sweep Carolina, the talk will continue to be about Bowles’ job security.

“I don’t think I worry about it at all. It doesn’t creep into the locker room,” Bowles said. “Players play and coaches coach and I’ve got more years behind me than I do ahead of me. I think we’re in a situation where we’re right back in it and our only focus is to win the ball game.”

Meanwhile, Canales must keep his team from looking past the Saints, who beat the Panthers 17-7 in Charlotte last month for their second win of the season.

“Everybody watched the (Bucs-Falcons) game,” Canales admitted. “The guys, the coaches. But we understand, that’s for next week. We’re playing the Saints this week. It’s going to take everything we have to win this game.”

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