Personal connections aside, there are still games on the schedule that can't help but draw the eye, something even Canales admitted to this week, not because of the hype but because they provide a litmus test.
"I love seeing the teams—I love seeing Buffalo coming in here, and I love seeing the teams that have played really well so that we can see who we are against the best."
There is one aspect of the Tampa Bay series that is already making an impact, though. Carolina will face their divisional opponent for the first time in Week 16, then in the finale in Week 18. The front half of the slate being so late in the season means there will be an abundance of game tape and trends from which to extrapolate. The back half, coming a mere two weeks later, sets up an interesting game-planning approach.
"Certainly, the end of the season, when it comes down to crunch time, playing the Bucs a couple of times right there, the quality control in me kind of sees that and goes, 'OK, well, I won't have a lot to break down when we play them the next time,'" Canales pointed out.
"And as a play caller, it's like, 'Shoot, what plays didn't we call in the first one?' Start with those, and then we'll add a couple more. So, it does help the preparation in that regard. But it does make it challenging because you know that they have the same advantage on the other side when you play each other that closely together."