Dave Canales: Cold? No Excuse!
December 15th, 2023
How cold is too cold for football?
So when many teams, not just the Bucs, first learn they are playing a mid-December game in Green Bay, there is one word that springs to mind.
“Cold!”
Yes, it gets rather frosty in northeastern Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan this time of the year.
Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales doesn’t want to hear any whining about the weather. Canales said cold is fine for football, so long as it is not bonecrushing cold.
“Really, there are two [weather elements] that really affect you: wind and rain,” Canales said yesterday. “We played the [Minnesota] Vikings in the 2015 season, it was -19 with wind chill. … We couldn’t complete a forward pass. We had to lean on our runs and we had a couple of other simple passes we could get done.
“It was the same thing for the other team. Those types of crazy elements [do] affect what you’re calling. Take a couple of weeks ago against the [Carolina] Panthers and it’s just raining like crazy – I call a pass, it goes right through Rachaad [White]’s hands. I go, ‘Okay, we’ve got to run the ball a little bit here.’
“If it’s really wet, if it’s really cold or windy, it definitely affects it. Right now, it looks like we’re going to be able to play ball.”
The forecast for Sunday is a high of 40, which is warm for Green Bay standards eight days before Christmas.
Joe long ago learned not to trust midwestern winter forecasts more than two days out. As of midnight last night, AccuWeather.com still forecasts a high of 40 on Sunday with a mild breeze.
This afternoon Joe will start to trust the Sunday forecasts for Green Bay. However, there is a cold front expected to move in Sunday night into Monday morning. If that front moves in quicker than expected (see Joe’s cautionary tale about forecasts for midwestern winters), it will be brutal Sunday.
On Monday, the current forecast for Green Bay is a high of 29 with 21 mph winds. That, friends, is cold!
December 15th, 2023 at 9:04 am
Imagine if Tampa had some kind of home-field advantage. Lots of nonsense has been uttered about early season home games in the FL sun. That hasn’t really worked out as planned.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:17 am
^^ Unfortunately you are right about that, realistic-optimistic. I haven’t really felt us getting that much advantage from the extremely hot days that teams are down here at RayJay.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:23 am
When i think of home field advantage I dont think of weather. I think of things like Seattle’s 12th man. How they designed that stadium to be super loud. I always wished the Bucs would do something along those lines to get a true home field advantage.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:29 am
I think the only way a team can take advantage of the hot, sunny home games is to have a Chip Kelly style offense (or like the BUF offense with Jim Kelly). One that is almost always up-tempo. An offense where our conditioning is the x-factor.
Short of that, the sun is a non-factor. It only burns the fans who have to sit in it for 3+ hours.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:29 am
We have a scary pirate ship.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:29 am
The bucs passing game won’t be affected much. They only have to throw 112 yards a half to reach their average. How hard can that be.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:38 am
The problem is we can’t have a home field advantage because our fan base isn’t that large and we are one of the best vacation destination cities in the league. Other teams’ fans will pay top dollar to watch their team play in Tampa, escape the cold, hit the beach, etc.
Green Bay on one of their colder winter days is probably the toughest road game in the league. Brutal weather with a loyal die-hard fanbase. I’m sure Philly & Boston would like to argue but nonetheless, our sunshine boys better kick it up a notch this week. This could end up being a playoff elimination game too.
December 15th, 2023 at 9:58 am
Sorry but mid 40s and sunny is not that cold.
The Bucs are actually very lucky to be playing in weather that nice in Green Bay this time of year…
December 15th, 2023 at 10:04 am
Never thought I’d see a worse HC than Bowles but Brandon Staley takes the cake.
December 15th, 2023 at 10:28 am
Cold weather shouldn’t effect players too much because they can warm up their bodies before the game by moving around. They can also warm the footballs up so it doesn’t break their fingers catching it. The fans in the stadium should be more adversely effected by the cold weather than the players moving around on the field. No excuses
December 15th, 2023 at 10:28 am
I was at the Chicago game this season in RayJay and got roasted, I saw the bears on the sidelines gasping for air the whole game. Our humidity is no joke when you’re not used to it, you struggle to breathe just like in Denver with the altitude it is definitely a factor. Our issue is we don’t have many games here in that type of heat and humidity 4-5 tops then it cools down and everyone wants to play here because it’s not so bad. If the league year started in June it would definitely be an advantage for us.
December 15th, 2023 at 10:48 am
I call coach Canales Mr. Chipper. He is always optimistic as hell just before we get our butts kicked. They should not let him speak prior to games. He is a jinx
December 15th, 2023 at 10:52 am
Home field advantage is filling the stadium with your fans. Based on past history Tampa is not good at that due to the product they put on the field and the size of the market. Sad.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:16 am
Marine is right about 40 not being cold, really. Suited up in that football gear, and playing at a high energy? No. Cold is below 30 degrees or the single digits and lower. The game was mostly played in the cool to cold weather. And with the heaters, gloves and warm balls now? Please. Most guys of yesteryear would have thought they were in heaven compared to today’s game. It wasn’t about track stars and twirling diva’s. It was about tough and gritty guys playing hard.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:17 am
I have been led to believe that so much greatness eminates from Trask it has a warming effect…causing snow to melt….flowers to bloom. Bring on the cold I say! Trask will keep the entire bench toasty.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:19 am
Hope it was the Shoulder Excuse and not the Cold that what was responsible for a 4 Interception Day @ Lambeau on a Christmas Day Game back in 2021.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:20 am
Homefield advantage in Lambeau isn’t mostly about the cold. It is about fans cheering their heads off for the home team, embracing them when they score with the leap, enduring those cold hard seats and chilling winds, and showing up. It is about the stands mostly full of green and gold, as they call it. It is about knowing when to make a ton of noise and when to quiet down. It is about the “ghosts of Lambeau”….. Lombardi… all the great players and tradition. But I get why most of us living or that lived in the Tampa Bay area don’t get that.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:26 am
And regarding HF advantage. Don’t forget season tickets in Green Bay are almost impossible to get….they are included in people wills and are handed down to the next generation and rarely are available for individual games from some season ticket holder associate or in the secondary market. The team is owned by the city of Green Bay, basically. Many non-season ticket holders own Green Bay “stock”… a tangibly worthless piece of paper with no voting rights or secondary market…. but the fans buy them to be a part of the team, even if they never get to a game. That kind of support means something to the team and organization..
December 15th, 2023 at 11:29 am
Just saying,. if the Glazers sold Tampa Bay Bucs stock with no secondary market value, and no voting rights, how many people would spend a couple hundred Bucs per share to just say they owned a “piece of the team”? Not many, I’d suppose. Yeah I know, apples and oranges. It is a unique situation. But it is what it is.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:32 am
D… I remember a missed Marteeeen Automatica FG attempt in Lambeau, that basically took away a bye week for us in the playoffs, and help propel the Packers into the Playoffs and eventually SB, as I recall. Hurts to this day.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:36 am
I’m from Wisconsin and I ought to know, it’s draft brewed BLATZ Beer wherever you go. Actually Wiconsin has so many brands of beer it’s impossible to list them all. They also have one of the highest alcoholic rates! I grew up in a very blue collar neighborhood that was full of beer only bars and lots of alcoholics. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin and left Wisconsin for good a week later. Did I mention the below zero winter weather? My brother-in-law played for the Badgers and was a starting defensive back and half back.He got his jaw broke in the Rose Bowl game which happily shut him up awhile. Packer fans are extremely loyal and every game is a sell out. But then the only other option is to go ice fishing! You hike way out on a frozen lake, chop a hole in the ice and freeze your ass off for a.couple of perch!
December 15th, 2023 at 11:39 am
Read on CBS I believe that the Glazers are considering starting a rebuild after this season. Licht and Bowles are on the hot seat, Licht only had a playoff team with Brady as QB and questionable drafting (Howard over Cook, kickers to Trask). If they make the playoffs, get ready for another year of mediocre play.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:41 am
Please Wild Bill. True that every town with more than a few hundred people has at least a handful of bars and an AA Chapter. You may have not been there in decades, but most towns of any size have nice workout centers, BB courts, and indoor Swimming pools. Few crowds…little traffic… State taxes less than the cost of Hurricane homeowners’ insurance. It isn’t paradise, but nowhere is. And to say ice fishing is the only game in town is kind of an exaggeration.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:44 am
Wisconsin even has snowmobiling now. True, most people bar hop. But still. Ice fishing is only one activity… one I don’t care to participate in. But those ice houses are nice. It isn’t about sitting in a tent over a hole like the old days, if you have some coins.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:49 am
Blatz? Wow…old timer. Try Leinenkugel, Point beer, Spotted Cow, craft beers, or light beers if your taste goes in that direct. Blatz? Don’t know anyone up here that really drinks that by choice. And Wow…newsflash…you can even get cable, Dish, DSL now days. And the radio channels have more than Country and Polka music. I knew it had changed when visiting up here during the summer in the 80’s and a kid was talking about something they saw on MTV.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:54 am
@Couxh – I agree, that’s a REAL home field advantage. Same thing in Kansas City.
But let’s be real- the Bucs have never had a home field advantage, even when they’ve had good teams. Too many fair weather, weak sauce fans. I haven’t been to a game at Ray Jay in several years now, but when I used to go regularly, it was sad how quiet and pathetic our home crowd was.
To be honest the Bucs fans at the Chargers-Bucs game in San Diego back in 2017 or 2018 (can’t remember which year) were waaaaay louder than the fans are at most Bucs home games, even though there were way less of us in attendance. I was proud of us that day.
December 15th, 2023 at 11:57 am
Looking forward to some Spotted Cow this weekend. Maybe at Krolls? Maybe at 1919.
December 15th, 2023 at 12:09 pm
Just a little history trivia. When the franchise was announced in Tampa, Central FL football fans went nuts, and RAISED the franchise fee of $40M. Similar to Green Bay ownership. The NFL owners went ballistic. Oh my god, fans owning a team??? Un-American, commie pinkos. Which, of course, is a bunch of BS. So, the owners got together, found Craperhouse down in So. FL, cut the franchise fee in half, and gave the team to him. The rest is mostly sorry NFL history. I know about this cos one of the fans involved in that original fundraising told me the sorry tale. For a team owned by its original fans, the Pack have a pretty damned good history. Bucs have plenty of diehard fans like me. Problem is FL is tourist trap central. Good thing this is an away game. They’re predicting tropical storm type conditions this weekend for the area. Good sized cold front coming down. Go Bucs!!
December 15th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
CBS is full of crap. Licht is going nowhere, plus Bucs won their second SB 3 years ago.
December 15th, 2023 at 12:14 pm
NE Fan Says:
December 15th, 2023 at 10:04 am
Never thought I’d see a worse HC than Bowles but Brandon Staley takes the cake.
^^^^
Misplaced NE fan, friendly reminder your team is 3-10 because your head coach is “CLUELESS” without Tom Brady. And your team lost to a team that was 3-8 😂 so don’t talk about terrible coaching over here
December 15th, 2023 at 12:16 pm
The will get frostbite. The Pack will chill the irraational exhuberance going around.
December 15th, 2023 at 12:21 pm
Joe Says:
December 15th, 2023 at 11:57 am
Looking forward to some Spotted Cow this weekend. Maybe at Krolls? Maybe at 1919.
__________
I think Rod Munch might recommend Striped Bulls Milk over Spotted Cow.
……..anywho, that man has an unquenchable thirst…..
December 15th, 2023 at 12:25 pm
Good thing this is an away game. Weather Boyz/girlz predicting tropical storm type conditions this weekend for Central FL. No way will football be played in those conditions at RayJay.
December 15th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
There is a reason Green Bay has not built an indoor stadium.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:08 pm
“Never thought I’d see a worse HC than Bowles but Brandon Staley takes the cake.”
NEstan, Bowels isnt even the worst Bucs HC in the last decade, Lovie Smith and Dirk Koetter were far worse. Learn some basic Bucs history before spouting nonsense.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:14 pm
Enjoy Joe. Must be nice to not have to sit in those metal stands. You and Ira can eat Brats or Rueben sandwiches and enjoy Spotted Cow from that Luxury seating. Experiencing those artic blasts blowing across the wind-swept tilled corn fields of the Midwest in your youth, you know what the low 40’s is like. So I know you won’t freeze. You know what they say, you can take the boy out of the Midwest, but you can’t take the Midwest out of the boy. LOL.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:23 pm
I knew Joe knew better than Blatz. I don’t want it, Hamms, PBR or old Milwaukee even in the house. Though I do have to say that those old moving Hamms sky blue water bar displays are very cool. And I wouldn’t even serve it to the disagreeable folks during the fourth quarter, if we started drinking the good stuff during the pre-game.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:27 pm
It was 40 degrees and sunny around noon in Ohio. Flannel shirt weather. That is as good as you’re gonna see in Green Bay mid December, give a cheer for global warming! Anyhow, looks like AJ Dillon might not play (broken thumb), and the LG is out. Probably Watson as well with a hammy. The stars might be aligning to sneak out a W
December 15th, 2023 at 1:28 pm
mark2001 you left out Heilman’s.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:32 pm
Buckey. LOL.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:34 pm
And yeah. 40 degree is hoodie weather, especially if no wind. A coat is optional.
December 15th, 2023 at 1:36 pm
Dillion is a beast… he kind of reminds me of Mikey A-train, the way he runs.
December 15th, 2023 at 2:26 pm
Jackie boy, there is NO way Bucs would beat the Patriots with Baker. NO WAY! Belichick would take away Evan’s and White and make Baker win with Godwin. Play Miami, Bill’s & Jets twice.and see how Bucs do. You beat 3 teams in the worst division and 3 at the bottom of their division.
December 15th, 2023 at 2:38 pm
@Unbelieveable, yep, I was there in Dec. 2016…I believe half of Qualcom was filled with Bucs fans; and we won!
December 15th, 2023 at 2:43 pm
mark2001 Dillon is Henry light. Best news i saw this week was him, LG and Watson maybe out
December 15th, 2023 at 2:46 pm
mark2001 what do you think about picking up Estime from Notre Dame R3 if he’s available?
December 15th, 2023 at 2:52 pm
As of midnight last night, AccuWeather.com still forecasts a high of 40 on Sunday with a mild breeze.
——–
AccuWeather is fake news – they’re the same people that said a couple of weeks ago it was going to be bright and sunny all day for the Bucs home game, when instead they got a torrential downpour, which was predicted by other weather sites.
Anywho, I checked my sources and it says high of 38, not 40! Thus proving my point.
December 15th, 2023 at 3:22 pm
Just saw the Green Bay Packers final injury report for today.
They have seven players that are questionable and one player doubtful
Questionable players include Dillon, & Jaire Alexander.
The doubtful player is Christian Watson
December 15th, 2023 at 3:23 pm
Also, other questionable players are Aaron Jones & Darnell Savage
December 15th, 2023 at 3:25 pm
Other questionable players include Quay Walker, Eric, Stokes, and Dontay wicks
December 15th, 2023 at 3:25 pm
R3 would sound like a good value. We need to build that position, obviously.
December 15th, 2023 at 3:41 pm
According to Canales there is no viable excuse for the Sunday loss.
December 15th, 2023 at 3:48 pm
Think Packer folks have same feelings that Bucs folks do now. Are they really a playoff caliber team? Probably not. But the Packers are among the youngest team in the league, and when the salary cap issues get cleaned up with AR’s departure, should be well positioned in another couple years, if Love is what they think he is. So do you want a playoff appearance or higher draft picks? With a team that is very young and starting to put it together? Tough call. The Packers do have the first-round pick, two seconds, two thirds, a fourth, sixth and seventh. So they aren’t too bad off in either case. They do have some players to deal with and still working through cap issues. The Bucs have a first round, second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh. I think a half dozen picks higher in each round is more critical for the Bucs.
December 15th, 2023 at 4:03 pm
Hey, Hey, Hey now HC Grover.
“According to Canales there is no viable excuse for the Sunday loss.” Could you keep down the “Canales Can Do Attitude!!!”
You might give one of these “Buc Fans” an aneurism, with both hands cramping up with all of their, pro or non-Testiculare fortitudes needing to be typed. JBF can not afford to lose all those know-it alls GM’s HC’s OC/DC ST Owners… Hey HC those Bromosass aint cheap..
Cold is just another element you learn to ignore and adapt to or overcome.
GO!!!!!BUCS!!!!!
December 15th, 2023 at 4:14 pm
Green Bay 30
Todd and Dave 6
December 15th, 2023 at 4:42 pm
I see Key Vaughn has been cut.
Finally.
Sorry but he is not an NFL running back and he has wasted a roster spot for 4 seasons…
If he wasn’t one of our GMs higher draft picks he would have never made the team to begin with.
I’m glad Licht was finally able to put his EGO in check and do the right thing for the team.
December 15th, 2023 at 4:43 pm
Dave Pear: like get lost!! You negative nellie whiners are getting beyond tiresome, and, oh so, BOR-ING!! Go Bucs!!
December 16th, 2023 at 7:16 am
Wear short sleeves and show em we aint gonna feel it at all!!!
Go Bucs!
December 16th, 2023 at 8:08 am
I saw Love was putting up good numbers and had Qb injuries on my FF team. So I added Love and started him last week. First time I watched him close. He was awful. So bad the coach was afraid to call a pass because he just couldn’t make it. I don’t think it was due to injury. Apparently the guy is just really hot and cold. Hopefully, we get the guy that played last week.
December 16th, 2023 at 8:13 am
Green Bay by 17.