Refs stunk but Canales was worse
A flea flicker in the red zone? There's a difference between being "aggressive" and trying to be the smartest guy in the stadium.
Brad Allen and his referee crew missed a call.
And another one.
And another.
Were they egregious? Absolutely.
Did it cost the Carolina Panthers the game? No. Did it cost the Panthers the NFC South title? No.
The Panthers have nobody to blame but themselves. They are the one’s that didn’t take care of business this season. They lost TWICE to the New Orleans Saints.
Tampa Bay tried to give this division and a playoff spot to the Panthers multiple times on a silver platter. The Panthers opted for the poo poo platter each time.
Instead of celebrating a playoff spot in Tampa Bay, the Panthers finish with their eighth consecutive losing season and have to hope for help from the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Despite the awful calls, the Panthers had a successful drive going early in the 4th quarter. At the Tampa Bay 20, Dave Canales called a flea flicker that was fumbled. He called a flea flicker despite Carolina’s running backs having trouble with their footing the entire game. He called a flea flicker only 20 yards away from the end zone.
“It’s just an aggressive call,” Canales said when asked about it by Panthers reporter Joe Person after the game.
“Aggressive” is certainly a choice word. A better description would’ve been “reckless” or “negligent.” Canales gets too cute as the offensive play caller and head coach. Calling a flea flicker at the Tampa Bay 20 yard line screams that he wants to show he’s the smartest man in the room. He lost this game for the Panthers with his negligent play calling. There’s no way to spin that a flea flicker was worth the risk in that area of the field.
The Panthers fate lies in the hands of the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow. It’ll be painful to watch but they can only blame themselves for not taking care of business when they had multiple chances to do so.