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Dave Canales made sure to turn two costly plays from Week 6 into learning moments for Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette
Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers got another big home win in Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys and have now won back-to-back games, getting back to .500 with a 3-3 record.

It was a big team-win to have against a really strong Cowboys team, although the defense has looked highly questionable this season. Regardless, a win is a win and stacking two has been something the Panthers have struggled to do.

But, it wasn't easy. The Panthers had some costly mistakes on Sunday the team needed to overcome and head coach Dave Canales made sure to turn those mistakes into learning moments.

Dave Canales reacts to costly plays made by two young WRs

The first mistake came on the second drive of the game. Quarterback Bryce Young tried to hit first-round wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan on a slant. The ball was a little ahead of McMillan, but hit his hands and bounced off for an interception.

"He's a really focused player," Canales said of McMillan after the game. "He just goes to the next play. High-confidence player who knows he's going to make that play. The catch was a little bit away from him, I've seen him make that, he'll be the first one to tell you, 'I can make that play.'"

After Canales spoke to the media, McMillan was available in the locker room and gave his take on the costly error.

"I just gotta be better on that, for sure," McMillan explained. "I'll take (the blame) on that one, for sure. I just gotta be able to catch the ball and not give up a turnover... I just gotta flush all that out and just play the next play. My coaches and the players were harping to me about that, so just flushing it out and finishing the game."

To finish the game, McMillan added a pair of touchdown receptions, the first two of his NFL career, to help his team seal a victory. So, it was nice to see the rookie be resilient after making a mistake.

As for the second costly error, it wasn't as costly as a turnover that led to points, but it nearly was. Late in the second quarter, the Panthers had a 2nd-and-9 in field goal range. Young hit wide receiver Xavier Legette on a crosser, who then ran backwards and attempted to pitch the ball to running back Rico Dowdle, and not by design. The result of the play was a loss of nine, setting the offense up for a 3rd-and-18 that went incomplete, forcing a long field goal that was fortunately good.

"We tried to mess that up," Canales said of the play. "I talked to Xavier about the lateral right there in that situation. It's just something that's outside of what we need to do. I think actually, Rico was calling for the ball so Rico came up to me and was like 'coach that was on me' so I was just like 'guys, don't make stuff up' let's just play our football... It was a good way for me to just remind the group, just do your job. It'll be enough and if they beat us, they made great plays."

At the end of the day, the Panthers overcame those mistakes to pull of a last-minute victory. But, for a young a team, these learning moments are important to handle, learn from, and respond to. It was good to see that out of the players.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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