Rex Ryan may have put his foot in his mouth.
The former NFL head coach and current ESPN analyst socked it to the Carolina Panthers on yesterday’s episode of Sunday NFL Countdown. Ryan played heel, taking aim at the team’s handling of recently-benched quarterback Bryce Young as well as their hiring of head coach Dave Canales—one he called “the worst dang hire ever.”
The ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown crew on Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
"Right now, the laughingstock of the National Football League is the Carolina Panthers." – Randy Moss
"I knew it was gonna be a disaster.." – Rex Ryan on the Dave Canales hire 🏈📺🎙️ pic.twitter.com/oH0n7QLyFA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 22, 2024
Welp, that take kinda stinks now, doesn’t it?
Just a few hours after Ryan’s rant, Canales and the Panthers stomped out a stunning 36-22 upset of the Las Vegas Raiders—the team, by the way, that currently employs Rex’s brother Rob as a senior defensive assistant. Carolina stepped all over that defense for 437 yards and seven scores over 11 drives, as veteran quarterback Andy Dalton led the way with 319 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Canales and the Panthers also went toe-to-toe with some of Ryan’s other concerns.
Not only did they run the ball, but they ran it rather well—feeding Chuba Hubbard 21 carries en route to a 114-yard rushing performance. Carolina’s defense stood tall as well, collecting a season-high three sacks and an interception while holding the Raiders to just 55 yards on the ground.
So, perhaps this hilarious edit from @_necktats over on Twitter/X was quite fitting . . .
— . (@_necktats) September 23, 2024
Unfortunately, that video and the Panthers’ performance didn’t do enough to move Ryan—who dug his feet in during Monday’s episode of Get Up:
It’s safe to say Rex Ryan isn’t letting up on his disdain for the Carolina coaching situation. 😂
His grade for the HC hire is an F (based on the perceived purpose of his hiring – fixing Bryce).
But Dave Canales won his first game yesterday!
So who cares, right?! pic.twitter.com/sj1kNNIWQh
— Panthers Culture 🥷🏽 (@PanthersCulture) September 23, 2024
Well, Ryan won’t be Carolina’s sole retractor, but at least they were able to find their footing.
