A jubilant Dave Canales praised the fight of his Carolina Panthers’ players as they survived a ten-point comeback by the New York Giants to win 20-17 in overtime. The Panthers leave Munich the victors thanks to a key fumble recovery in overtime.

“What a win, what a great finish,” Canales raved. “It got really interesting there a couple times in some of the drives, guys just wouldn’t quit. We just wouldn’t go away. The defense just continued to play, offensively just trying to find some wins right at the end. But to see a ball punched out in overtime; sometimes it takes a little bit longer than regulation. But I’m just really proud of this group and the finish that we continue to play with and find a way to come away with these games at the end.”

Canales singled out D.J. Wonnum and A’Shawn Robinson for praise on defense. Both players recorded a sack and two tackles for loss apiece. Carolina stymied the New York attack in the first half, but eventually would allow Daniel Jones and Tyrone Tracy Jr. to find more rhythm after the break. 

“Really, the strategy was just playing our coverage,” said Canales. “We were counting on our rush. Our rush had a nice little boost of energy from D.J. Wonnum coming in there and really creating some pressure outside. A’Shawn Robinson from the interior showing some great rush as well. So again, it was just about rallying up and tackling in many of those situations and guys playing their leverage, which we missed a few early on but they corrected it and got back to playing the ball that we needed to.

“I thought we were tough against the run game, but they ended up putting a drive together at the end of the game where they were starting to find some of their cut-back runs and some lanes there. But we tightened it up.” 

Chuba Hubbard celebrated signing a four-year $33.2m contract in style. The running back toted the rock 28 times for 153 yards and a score, and was the key cog in a dominant first quarter display by Carolina. Canales lauded his star man’s performance. 

“Career high and went after it — but he was the same Chuba [and] I expected nothing less,” the first-year HC said. “It’s the consistency of the guy. He showed up again and ran hard and ran the runs the way we wanted to versus the different looks. They made it challenging on us, but we found some wins in there, and we were able to run the ball like we wanted to.” 

With Andy Dalton returning to the active roster, speculation surrounded Canales’ decision at quarterback. While Bryce Young’s final statline of 15 of 25 for 126 yards and a score is hardly headline grabbing, the second-year signal caller was decisive, and protected the football. 

“I’m so proud of Bryce,” Canales said. “I’m so proud of [him] taking the next step again. I thought he had a great day. I thought it could have been a fantastic day. I thought a few balls got away from us a couple of times and that could have turned it into a really exceptional day. But he handled the rush well. He handled the different coverage looks and all that.

“Again, we’ll take all the information. We’ll do all that. But Bryce is certainly making a statement to all of us. I just can’t tell you how proud I am of just weekly progress, and that’s the goal for all of us.”

Nominally the home team in Munich, the Panthers enjoyed the atmosphere. Canales was equally effusive in his praise of the stadium, and the fans in attendance. 

“The environment, it was absolutely electric in the stadium,” he observed. “The stadium itself is beautiful. The energy from the crowd, it’s just nonstop. Like a soccer match, the energy stays the whole time, and then there’s the ebbs and flows as the big plays happen. But just the whole situation, all of the lights, the different jerseys out there — and there was a good following of Panthers. You know, as things were working in our favour, I could hear it starting, the noise starting to climb. I could hear when we were on defense, they were making noise for the other team.

“It was great. It was a great experience overall. A beautiful city. A great opportunity for us to go overseas. But we told the guys we came here to win a football game and ultimately that’s what we’ll remember. So it was a special trip.”