Something to Dave Canales felt “eerily similar.”
The Carolina Panthers head coach was referring to two of the more difficult Mondays of his team’s 2025 season. The first one came right after their Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots, one of the blowout, never-in-it variety. The other one came this past Monday, two days ago — right on the heels of a 31-point loss to the Buffalo Bills, the kind of loss that could shake a team’s belief, an identity.
On both days, instead of the entire team cycling through position-group meetings — “tell the truth” Mondays — players lifted and then most went home. “The leadership council,” however, stayed. And had their quarterly meeting about who they were, what needed to change and what they needed to do to change it.
“Four weeks ago, we had the same meeting,” Canales said. “We had one at the beginning of the year, got four games in, and then regrouped.”
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales, right, watches the team battle the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 7, 2025 at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars defeated the Panthers 26-10. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Did this Monday meeting at all feel similar to the one from Week 4?
“Yes it did,” Canales said. “Unfortunately, it’s in that same mode of a game that really got out of hand on us. A lot of humility in that room. Certainly a group that’s been growing in confidence based on how we’ve been playing and how we’ve been preparing.
“And now, what’s great about it is we get to go into that same room with a similar type of result from the day before and really feel the urgency of what it takes to stop the run collectively on defense — and offensively, to get the run game going.”
Canales continued: “So eerily similar in that regard. And I’m hoping for the same result.”
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, left and head coach Dave Canales, right, celebrate their team's 27-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 5, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
The fact that such a meeting among the team’s leadership council — made up of the team’s captains and various other veterans, though Canales didn’t specify who — took place after Week 8 was planned. But the fact it came after such similar outputs is coincidental.
After all, the Panthers couldn’t stop the run and couldn’t get the run game going en route to a 42-13 loss to the Patriots; there were missed kicks and turnovers and defensive breakdowns galore. Against the Bills, the Panthers allowed a franchise-record 216 rushing yards by a single running back — James Cook — and let turnovers take care of the rest.
Eerily similar, but with one key difference about what was happening in the room:
The Panthers know who they are this time around.
They didn’t, of course, after that Patriots loss. But they responded to that loss with three straight wins and a rushing effort — both defensively and offensively — that broke records left and right. On this most recent Monday, there was a belief that previously didn’t exist, players said.
“This team is in a different spot than we were four weeks ago,” said starting linebacker and five-year NFL veteran Christian Rozeboom, who is part of the team’s leadership meeting. “And I know the game on Sunday wasn’t what we’ve been. But sitting in that room four weeks ago, we had won one game, but at the same time, we were still trying to figure out who we were. And I think now we can see what we can be. And the confidence is there.”
Canales agreed.
“There was a shift,” Canales said. “Early in the season, even from our veteran players in our group, a lot of them were new to this team, and new to this group. It’s a team that’s grown together. It’s a team that’s found ways to win in different phases.
“And going into this meeting today, there’s a sense of identity, there’s a sense of what we look like at our best. And we understand what we’re getting after, and what’s required, so there’s a confidence that’s growing and a knowing of who we are and what our identity can be at its best.”
Carolina Panthers' Christian Rozeboom (56) tries to stop Buffalo Bills' James Cook on Oct. 26, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. TRACY KIMBALL tkimball@heraldonline.com
And because of this, there was a slightly different message than of weeks before.
“I think it was more, ‘This isn’t a panic time,’” running back Chuba Hubbard said. “’We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, keep working.’ Obviously it sucks to lose. We looked at the tape and discussed what were the reasons behind it. And from that, we just fixed things and moved forward. We got Green Bay this week, so that’s where our focus is.”
Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) runs with the ball in the second quarter on Oct. 19, 2025, against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Vincent Carchietta Imagn Images
Green Bay is a bit more formidable competition than the 2-6 Miami Dolphins, or the 1-7 New York Jets. But there’s no doubt the leadership council meeting from four weeks ago began a run.
What can it do this time?
“I mean we got confidence that we can fix what we need to fix,” Rozeboom said. “And go out and compete with anybody on Sunday.”