Rich Gannon Points An Xs & Os Finger At Dave Canales
October 27th, 2023
Offensive coordinator Dave Canales.
What the heck was happening to the Tampa Bay offense last night against a Bills defense dealing with signficant injuries?
All those presnap penalties and Mike Evans disappearing, in addition to the weak running game, it’s hard to understand.
Former NFL MVP quarterback Rich Gannon had plenty of firm thoughts on the subject today on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
Gannon pointed a finger squarely at new Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Gannon speculated that Canales might have been sending playcalls in a tick late on the road in a hostile atmosphere when nothing was going well for his unit.
Per Gannon, that leads players to mishearing things in the huddle and/or approaching the line of scrimmage with less confidence — and less time to mentally process what comes next.
Gannon also wondered aloud about Todd Bowles’ poor history managing offense.
“He really struggled managing that quarterback situation in New York,” said Gannon, who called several games for CBS during those years of Bowles leading the Jets.”
Gannon was quick to say he’s not suggesting the Bucs switch to Kyle Trask. In fact, Gannon said he appreciates how Baker Mayfield is protecting the football, fighting hard and, possibly, is suffering from an inexperienced playcaller.
Mike Evans having so few targets last night and only three catches really stuck in Gannon’s craw.
“You just cannot allow a team like Buffalo to take away your best player. You just can’t,” Gannon said of Evans. “The good teams find ways to get their players the ball. You know, I think when you look at the other side of it, you don’t think for a second that Todd Bowles wanted to make sure that [three-time Pro Bowl Bills receiver] Stefon Diggs was not a factor in the game. Yet he had nine catches (on 12 targets).
“You gotta still find a way within your scheme, whether it’s bunch formations, stacked alignments, motioning the receiver, moving him around so they can’t get their hands on them at the line scrimmage, making it difficult for a team to double him. … It’s just comes with experience as a playcaller. But [the Bucs] got a lot of issues now on both sides of the ball.”
Joe is not a big Gannon fan because he often will talk about teams and it seems/sounds obvious he isn’t watching their games. However, Gannon is money when he pays attention. And Joe agrees with much of Gannon’s assessment here.
There is no excuse for a healthy Mike Evans to be so invisible during a game in which Mayfield threw 42 passes and the Bills were down their top cornerback.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:30 pm
“Start Trask” comments incoming….
Gannon is dead on that Baker is dealing with a OC who’s clearly not ready yet, Mayfield is fighting hard and the players rally behind him. At least the players support Mayfield which is all that matters cause certainly have the fan base is looking for any reason to get their boy Trask in.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:33 pm
Canales is clearly over his head.. Bowles wanted a puppet and he got one!
October 27th, 2023 at 7:40 pm
And it doesn’t help either that Baker has stopped scrambling, that was a big part of the 3-1 start that has disappeared.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:45 pm
Evans should demand a trade if a rookie receiver on the team is getting just as many opps as he is.
Canales also needs to go back to his office and look at Evans history of winning jump balls time after time, he’s taller then every damn safety or cornerback out there!
And Baker should know that too and take advantage of Evans, even if he’s not the primary option, that is, if he thinks he’s more than a one-year TB replacement.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:46 pm
CalBucsFan … BINGO, but I suspect that’s by design to try to keep him from getting hurt. If that’s the case though, it was a bad decision because Baker does better it seems when he gets out of the pocket.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:49 pm
Seems funny in retrospect that Canales was the hit of the town when the Bucs were 3-1 and lots of folks wanted him promoted to HC. Many others were concerned that some other team would snatch him up after this season to be their HC. Now? Some of those same folks would rather see our waterboy calling the plays.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:53 pm
“Gannon was quick to say he’s not suggesting the Bucs switch to Kyle Trask.”
Where did he mention Kyle Trask?
October 27th, 2023 at 7:53 pm
Apparently a 3 game collapse is not enough for realize Baker is not the answer.
OK then the beatings will continue.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:53 pm
That’s the problem with Bowles, he handcuff his playmakers which was apparent last year when he decided to take the ball outta the goat Brady’s hand n punt. I thought we were going to start out with the no huddle offense to strike strike n strike, let Mayfield scramble then hit Evans with the big pass. We had no sense of urgency while down 14 in 4th quarter. Bowles is still conservative n selfish. He had no game plan n Canales is outta his league. He looked clueless reminded me of Arroyo. Bring Brady back as the coach n players n coaches will be in line to join the team.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:55 pm
^ Defense Rules beat me to it. Just a few weeks ago Canales was the Second Coming. Now? Uh …
October 27th, 2023 at 7:57 pm
Bowles had total say in who he wanted as an OC, he went with Canales. At some point we have to recognize that Bowles has been a HC for 6 yrs with two different teams, and his offenses consistently struggle. He’s the common denominator.
October 27th, 2023 at 7:58 pm
Yeah, what TBbucs3 said.
Also, have to forget about the Trask Roadies on this site who in my eyes are just quitters. Baker also needs a little extra time to heal from the beating he’s taken the last few weeks; Trask would never have held up. 10 games left in the regular season… time for a win streak.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:02 pm
In my opinion, Canales is not sitting in a corner with a dunce cap on his head (although I would love to see a few players doing that). He is probably talking to every offense guru he can find. By his own admission, he is on a learning curve, and I feel certain he is hellbent on making improvements. He is not a stubborn and stupid guy. Mark my words.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:06 pm
Canales is going to struggle. I suppose he wouldn’t have if he was the second coming of Sean McVay but that’s an unreasonable expectation. It’s also funny to me that Canales was the passing game coordinator for Seattle and now he’s coaching for Bowles who wants a run game first coach.
This is hardly surprising that we are watching the beginning of a train wreck.
Also, is it just me or does Mike Evans look checked out?
October 27th, 2023 at 8:14 pm
Wyoming Joe . You can with that trash Baker Mayfield next year. He sucks and he will suck again in Houston. The question is what new excuse are you and Joe will have?? Kyle Trask was better than Faker Mayfield all training camp and Joe knows it just like all the rest of bucs media. But they are saling us Faker Mayfield because they are trying to help the Glazers sale tickets it’s all a game. That’s why they said it’s a quarterback competition when they knew it never was a competition. Faker Mayfield was the starter when they snig that trash to the bucs. He is showing you why he’s on his 4th team in 6 years!! He sucks!!!
October 27th, 2023 at 8:18 pm
I’m a big fan of Gannon, he helped us win out first SB.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:21 pm
“Can do” Canales looks,sounds and acts like a male cheerleader. It would be an easy transition/soft landing to move him over to the gay blades or whatever they’re called.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:22 pm
Yea deff unacceptable for not using ME13 more. They got CG14 involved more which is awesome but baker should be feeding our 2 stud WRs a very very healthy dose of the football. Forget the run game make them shut down both WRs which isn’t easy and if they due short passes to white and let him work. This offense should be ranked 15th with our pass protection and WRs and white is a stud as a receiving back. Run game will make you 🤢. But it’s a passing league anyways. Not saying totally abandon the run but not saying he a run 1st team either
October 27th, 2023 at 8:29 pm
I call him a paid intern learning on the fly for his next job. Todd Blows is a seriously nice guy. I’ve never seen a O.C. admit they don’t know what the thell they are doing. But hey hes got energy and is positive. He’s just going to keep getting better on the Glazers fine. Then maybe game or next or next or maybe the last game it will all come together and he will dial it in and his scheme will be complete. Then Blows is fired. Dave goes back to his one true deep deep loblve Deptessing stinking rainy gloomy Seattle. Yay! Good job Blows and licked or leach or Licht whatever.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Last night was the first time I saw mayfield not look confident. I think it was throwing the ball 45 times. Buffalo’s defensive line did a great job of not leaving holes for mayfield to escape. He wanted to several times but it wasn’t there. I think teams figured our offense out after 4 games and figured out how to shut us down. We haven’t figured out how to counter.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:41 pm
The Baker fans are missing the point
We all agree Baker has a 0.00% chance of leading the Bucs to a title
We may all disagree on Trask. But perhaps there is a 1% of a title from Trask.
Doesn’t that make it obvious to start Trask?
The only benefit of Baker is it increasing our chance of winning 7 games and keeping Todd. It doesn’t increase our chance of winning 10 or 4 (which Trask does).
Anyone that cares about the Bucs should care about winning either 10 or winning 4. 7-8 is awful
October 27th, 2023 at 8:43 pm
Put another way we KNOW Baker is the 25-30th best NFL QB
Trask has an ultra low chance at being top 10, an ok chance at being top 40, and a very real chance at being out of the league.
What distribution is better for the Bucs?
October 27th, 2023 at 8:44 pm
Canals is the failed hiring of a coach that will be fired in 9 weeks. And Light has some explaining to do.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:47 pm
Can we start calling Dave Canales a failed offensive coordinator now? Or is it still too early?
October 27th, 2023 at 8:56 pm
Greg,
Lil pouty Biotch ME13 looks checked out to me.
Sell him now please.
October 27th, 2023 at 8:58 pm
Tom Moore is still listed as being on the coaching staff. Talk about a wealth of information, wow. Same with BA actually; another superb source of knowledge. Those 2 guys know QBs, and they know the passing game inside & out.
So WHY is this offense struggling so mightily? Lack of talent? Inexperience? QB not the right ‘fit’ given the other talent available? Something is really screwed up & we seem to be just circling the drain.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:09 pm
Canales is way over his head, the two consecutive runs in the third were just stupid. I hope he learns from his mistakes.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:18 pm
Defense Rules. I had those same thoughts. Tom Moore is still on the active staff. I thing is, why didn’t Bowles just go this season with Moore as OC and Canales as Co OC if he wanted Canales as his OC. This would’ve given Canales a lot of OC knowledge and then let Canales take over next year
October 27th, 2023 at 9:20 pm
They showed last ight, a half dozen plays where a corner assigned to Evans hung on him like a blanket. No way was he getting a target in any of those situations
October 27th, 2023 at 9:24 pm
Unrelated topic – not that I want to see something bad happen, but can someone explain how Camarda was not penalized for removing and swinging his helmet? They threw the flag and then picked it up. Look, I realize Camarda is practically our MVP, but if we expect flags to go our way then we have to be accountable for our own mistakes. Any time you remove your helmet on purpose that’s a penalty. What am I missing?
October 27th, 2023 at 9:42 pm
Canales being the talk of the town, and now king of the curb isn’t surprising. What have you done for me lately buddy? Nothin.
October 27th, 2023 at 9:44 pm
Sooooo Traskite Rod was wrong (again) and our star players were not all over field open but instead as some others indicated – the Bills took them out and um soooo even Ira was wrong that it was on Baker to get the ball to Evans instead of Canales play calling.
Naaaah Oneilbuc is more to be believed – its a vast conspiracy That the Glazers and Bowles have clearly paid Gannon to get in on.
🙂
October 27th, 2023 at 9:46 pm
Some good points there. More importantly, will Taylor Swift be there.
Signed, The NFL
October 27th, 2023 at 10:12 pm
They are targeting ME, this was one game. Right now ME has 507 yards, 5 TDs, 15.4 yards per catch, 33 receptions on 55 targets. That puts him just slightly ahead of his production last season if he plays all 17 games. If he misses two games he will put up numbers almost identical to last season. Big difference is they are getting ME the ball in the end zone this year and he is on pace to double his TDs this season.
It’s a combo of everything right now that is hurting us but the main issue is the run game. I didn’t like the signing of Mayfield and I still think that at his best he is just a good QB but if we had a run game then good would be good enough. Whatever they need to do to fix the run game is step one. Hell put Devin White back there he played RB in HS and was recruited to play RB in college.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:23 pm
Tod Bowles is in his sixth season as a head coach.
His first was also his last winning season. He kept his OC but probably told him to run more/use up clock to save the defense the next season.
Second season, losing season. Canned the OC.
Third season, losing season, canned the OC.
Fourth season, losing season, both he and the OC got canned.
Fifth season, with the GOAT at QB and most of the players returning since a super bowl win, as well as the same super bowl coaching staff……. Losing season, OC gets the blame ONCE AGAIN.
Sixth season, no experienced OC’s will sign up with him, takes on a (someone said puppet), season still in the air but leaning towards another losing season.
Does anyone else see a pattern here?
October 27th, 2023 at 10:34 pm
Tbbucs3 and Wyomingjoe are going down to the wire with Baker.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:35 pm
Baker Bros are scared spitless Trask will get on the field and outplay Captain Checkdown.
It’s the strangest thing.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:40 pm
Gannon knows what he’s talking about. How does a team with great offensive weapons not create specific plays that get them the ball?
The Bucs show very poor body language on the field. They are playing uptight. There is no comraderie between players. Workplace must be toxic because Bowles isn’t pushing their buttons to make them play better.
They get worse every week. Not good for management.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:46 pm
Usfbuc Says:
Hell put Devin White back there he played RB in HS and was recruited to play RB in college.
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I hear what you’re saying. But if you want a real game changer in the backfield, it should be Vea. He also played running back, and could you think of a more punishing full back/running back option?
Talk about bowling pins!
October 27th, 2023 at 10:46 pm
I’m starting to get pissed off with Bruce Arians for having part of making this mess…
October 27th, 2023 at 10:47 pm
Problem is… Neither one would want the pay cut.
October 27th, 2023 at 10:59 pm
The only thing that can save this season is if Arians comes down to the field and starts calling plays to save his friends job. If not Bowles is history in 2 to 3 months.
October 27th, 2023 at 11:04 pm
Is the the OC? Is the QB? Is the Head Coach?
When teams lose everyone wants to place blame with just one guy and it is actually ALL OF THE ABOVE. They wanted to play complimentary football, and they certainly compliment each other in losing for sure.
You have a Head Coach who wants to take chances on Defense but not Offense. He is willing to roll the dice, with a nickel blitz on the most crucial play of the game and HOPE Allen and Diggs don’t communicate. No Todd, that’s your team that doesn’t communicate. Then, on the flip side, he has no trust in the offense to pick up 3 yards on 4th and 3.
Canales has the weight of an entire city on his shoulders and he looks lost. He forgets what he is doing and plays dont look in rhythm. The game where we just kept taking shots to the endzone comes to mind. He is also just HOPING, something clicks instead of feeling confident in a PLAN.
But, honestly Baker is just not the guy they were HOPING, he was. You can have Moxie all day, but that obviously doesn’t WIN football games. You might say Trask would have been sacked more because Baker can elude QBs better, but there are 2 points to that. #1, Baker is supposed to have a 2.7 second rule and he started the season doing just that, but since has reverted back to his Old Ways. You dump it off to White if it hits that mark and he hasn’t. Trask might not actually be in as many situations where he has to ELUDE QBs, we just don’t know. #2, When Baker scrambles and eludes, he keeps his head down. Early in the season again, he was actually making plays like the shovel type pass to Rachaad and pass to Otton when in trouble. Now he runs out of bounds and sticks the ball forward for a yard, when we need like 6 or 7. What good does that do?
Let me guess, the Baker supporters are just gonna say he is the culprit of a Bad Organization? Every where that guy goes is bad so there is tour common denominator. Canales would be looked at differently if Mini Me wasn’t playing QB.
October 27th, 2023 at 11:11 pm
Jason Licht is gonna be walking the plank soon. Finally.
The Brady reprieve is OVER!
The licht house is BROKEN.
October 27th, 2023 at 11:42 pm
Canales had his shot and talked a good game.
But his offense is abysmally offensive.
He is as bad an OC as Bowles is a HC.
What a coaching mess…
October 27th, 2023 at 11:47 pm
Brothers and Sisters, I feel your pain. Take a deep breath. Still 10 more games to go. Pace yourselves. Half the naysayers will be back on board after a big win next week. Plenty of time to make people walk the plank at the end of the season. The Guards and Center on this team get ZERO push. They appear to be giving supreme effort while they are getting exposed, so I cant blame coaching. Definite cause for concern 7 games in, but the powers that be have indicated this was the case. A crap run game makes everyone look bad. Not giving anyone a pass. Let them dig themselves out of the hole or be buried in it.
October 27th, 2023 at 11:51 pm
How is it possible that no one even mentions it took SEVEN+ FREAKING MINUTES to score when Bucs were down 14 with 10.00 to play????????
TOTAL and UTTER lack of situational awareness
Even the aged one Al Michaels noticed it
October 28th, 2023 at 1:18 am
Baker says he feels dangerous – but dances in the pocket with happy feet.
This is like ramming you head against the wall repetitively and wondering why you have a headache.
October 28th, 2023 at 1:19 am
BucsFanSince76 Baker can’t push the ball down the field. He’s a checkdown charlie.
October 28th, 2023 at 1:30 am
what if:
the reason evans got so few targets is because they really are going to attempt to move him, and the goal is to keep him healthy, so to not hinder a potential trade
October 28th, 2023 at 5:18 am
O-line is horrible they can not run block worth a s–t or pass block for any length of time. Again this NOT a Baker issue, it’s o-line…O-line…O-line issue not quarterback in the NFL would be any better with this O-line. They don’t give a care and have no pride that’s my opinion from training camp. Why not roll Baker out or throw screens to slow the defense down it might help keep the D. Honest.
October 28th, 2023 at 5:32 am
Reason Evans got so few targets is because midget happy feet Baker couldn’t find him. Couldn’t you all see the difference between Allen, and Baker standing in the pocket? I’ve seen a for pound terrier with moxie. No match for a big dog.
October 28th, 2023 at 5:52 am
Trade Trask…oh yeah no one wants him wonder why?
October 28th, 2023 at 6:46 am
A timid head coach is worthless. It must have been someone else’s big balls he used earlier this season.
October 28th, 2023 at 7:15 am
Trask fan bois are ridiculous
October 28th, 2023 at 8:32 am
Last year, even when not in a 2-minute or hurry-up offense, we got the plays in, communicated them in the huddle and got the snap off much faster with more time left on the play clock. Of course that’s harder on the road in a loud, hostile environment but not impossible.
Pretty sure that was one area Canales mentioned when he got here (along with quick QB release time and other lofty goals). It might seem trivial to say we need to save an extra 5 seconds per offensive play, but when you don’t have a quick-strike offense and want to grind it out on the ground and just throw enough to move the sticks, you need extra time.
What we saw in the 4th qtr down by 2 scores was a perfect example of what NOT to do. Not just in that situation, but all game long.
From training camp on, that long, time-consuming drive was touted as a goal and even commenters here saying those long, time-consuming drives “demoralize a defense”. It might look bad azz on paper in the 1st quarter, but those “beautiful, long drives” can kill you.
It’s part of clock management. If you have a slow moving, plodding offense, and time of possession is even, you only have the ball for 30 minutes. If you need 7.5 minutes per drive, that’s only 4 possessions. If you score on ALL of them, say 3 TDs and a FG, that’s only 24 points and borderline not enough to win.
You also need to win the field position battle with ST, takeaways, and quick defensive stops so you only have to “plod your way 55 yards or less” to get in FG range or the red zone, thereby taking less time to do it.
You go on a 10-play drive and have to punt, saving those seconds of game clock per play adds up. Using all 35 seconds = 35 sec x 10 plays = 350 seconds or 5.83 minutes. Saving 5 seconds per play = 30 sec x 10 plays = 300 seconds or 5 minutes, saving you nearly a full minute of game clock that you might need later if low on timeouts and a full minute in crunch time is huge…..and that’s just what you save on ONE drive that fails so even though you had to punt, you bought yourself a little more time for the offense later but not so much that you can’t burn it up if you have a lead.
If we had the “no risk it” back and could score twice within a short amount of time, fine. But we don’t and we need better clock management down to the finer details like saving play clock time to get the snap off.
Scoring points wins games. Every offensive possession is a potential scoring opportunity, so your number of possessions matter and you can only squeeze in so many in the time allotted so maximize your time..every time you have the ball.
Not rocket science, just math.
October 28th, 2023 at 8:33 am
How many more times in a single game can Evans
be wide open and Baker not able to see him?
Well Baker has to look down field to find him and not just
Look at where he had already decided to throw it waiting
for someone to come open there and throwing it even if they don’t
He’s never been any good, never done anything and never
Will. No wonder Todd Bolwes likes him. He has the same CV!
October 28th, 2023 at 9:13 am
Baker is best when they are using play-action, boot legs and even rolling out left and/or right. Seems the last 2 or 3 games he is attempting to be a pocket passer. which he is not. Get him moving so he also always has the option to run. idk. Go Bucs!
October 28th, 2023 at 9:23 am
tbc 1 Says: “Trade Trask…oh yeah no one wants him wonder why?”
You’re confused. It was Baker nobody wanted, remember?
October 28th, 2023 at 10:37 am
Incompetent HC + Inexperienced and clueless OC + horrendous Oline and RBs. What could go wrong.
October 28th, 2023 at 10:50 am
Baker is best when he’s playing for another team
against us… that’s about the only time I would think
he was best for anything. Look at his record… he’s a waste
of time and was a waste of money by no clue Todd. Of course
Todd selected him over Trask, how else could he justify
buying him! Is Trask any better? I don’t know, but we need to find out.
He played his heart out in the last preseason game and
was infinitely better than Faker Nayfield. It’s time to give him a
chance. He’ll see Mikey downfield and wide open and will
get the ball to him!
October 28th, 2023 at 10:59 am
Calling Coach Harbaugh, Calling Coach Harbaugh, Come in Coach. Make this a person to person call to Ann Arbor Michigan please. Do you read me Coach Harbaugh?
October 28th, 2023 at 4:10 pm
Gannon said he appreciates how Baker Mayfield is protecting the football, fighting hard
———
YEAH, EXACTLY, YOU PEOPLE THAT DON’T LIKE BAKER ARE STOOOPID AND DON’T KNOW NUTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL. YOU WIN GAMES BY NOT TURNING THE BALL OVER, THOSE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT SCORING MORE POINTS THAN THE OTHER TEAM ARE JUST CLUELESS. ALSO ALL THE BAKER HA8ERS REFUSE TO TALK ABOUT ALL THE MOXIE AND SPUNK MAYFIELD BRINGS TO THE TEAM. THIS TEAM NEEDS REAL LEADERSHIP, NOT THE PARTTIME LEADERSHIP SOME HACK LIKE BRADY BROUGHT, BUT A REAL GRITTY TRY HARD LEADER LIKE MAYFIELD. THIS TEAM IS GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL, IF ONLY PEOPLE WOULD STOP THINKING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS!
October 28th, 2023 at 4:34 pm
Rod, what are you smoking and can I have some?
October 28th, 2023 at 5:05 pm
If Baker Mayfield plays bad next week you Faker Mayfield fan are going to go crazy. Lol 😂😂😂
October 28th, 2023 at 8:50 pm
@Oneilbuc
Why do you wish for failure so much?
You must have some very deep regrets about your own life decisions.
Just sayin.
October 28th, 2023 at 9:24 pm
gp. Who’s hoping for failure the guy suck I was happy the first 3 games when he played like a average quarterback. But the truth is the truth Baker Mayfield is not a good quarterback . And as far as my life goes I’m good that’s why I can tell the truth about what I’m seeing in Baker Mayfield or any other quarterback you are the one who’s mad 😡 . It ain’t that deep to me ain’t nothing but a freaking football game to me !! Baker Mayfield suck and if this was Trask or any other quarterback you would be saying the same thing about them and I would to !!
October 29th, 2023 at 6:41 pm
When Evans and Godwin consistently dont get in
the top ten WR performance stats week
after week, somethings wrong… the QB in this case!
October 29th, 2023 at 9:23 pm
you are the one who’s mad 😡 .
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No dude, I’m Happy
Happy as a lark that I ain’t you.
What a waste of air.