by TYLER HATHAWAY
The Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers enter Sunday’s matchup in Charlotte both facing their own adversity. For the Bills, they have lost their past two games and hope last week’s bye can help to right the ship and get their season back on track. The Panthers on the other hand have won three of its past four games, but starting quarterback Bryce Young is questionable for the contest with an ankle injury. The two teams will meet Sunday. Here’s the breakdown:
BUFFALO BILLS (4-2/AFC East)
vs.
CAROLINA PANTHERS (4-3/NFC South)
Sunday, Bank of America Stadium, 1:00 pm
Storyline #1: Bills coming off well-needed bye week
The Bills are entering Week 8 coming off of the bye week, and realistically the bye couldn’t have come at a better time for Buffalo. The Bills have lost their last two games, one to the New England Patriots and the other to the Atlanta Falcons. In both games, the Bills were sloppy, with multiple turnovers and at least eight penalties in each game.
“It’s establishing who we are as a team,” Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott told reporters this week. “That continues to unfold week after week, and I don’t really know if we’re there yet. And that’s okay. But we gotta keep pushing. We gotta stay urgent with our approach.”
If there’s good news for the Bills, a full week of rest has bode well for the team in the past. McDermott is a perfect 7-0 off of the bye since becoming the head coach of Buffalo.
Storyline #2: Panthers quarterback Bryce Young dealing with injury
Carolina quarterback Bryce Young is questionable for Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. He suffered it in the third quarter of Carolina’s 13-6 victory against the New York Jets, and was out for the rest of the game.
“Each day try to push him a little bit more, try to see if we can get him out there in a different capacity,” Carolina head coach Dave Canales said of how they would approach the injury. “If Bryce is ready to go, he’s going to go.”
If Young can’t play, it will be veteran quarterback Andy Dalton who starts for the Panthers.
Storyline #3: Tons of ties between Buffalo and Carolina
There is lots of connections between the Bills and Panthers’ franchises, especially on Buffalo’s end.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane both were apart of the Panthers’ staff prior to joining the Bills, with McDermott being the team’s defensive coordinator for a few years and Beane being apart of the scouting department. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was once the Carolina’s offensive coordinator, and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor once held the same role with the Panthers.
In terms of players, linebacker Shaq Thompson spent a decade with the Panthers before joining the Bills this past offseason. Veterans Daquan Jones and Curtis Samuel have each spent time with Carolina, and Dane Jackson started in Buffalo, went to the Panthers, and now is back with the Bills.
Key to the game #1: Contain the Panthers’ two-pronged rushing attack
The biggest kryptonite the Bills have had all season has been defending the run. Against Baltimore, Derrick Henry ran for 169 yards and Lamar Jackson ran for 70. The Saints accrued 189 total rushing yards against the Bills, and against Atlanta in Buffalo’s last game before the bye, Bijan Robinson ran for 170 yards as the Falcons totaled over 210 yards on the ground.
The Panthers have not one, but two solid running backs. Chuba Hubbard has been the team’s starter since 2023, and ran for nearly 1200 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024. Rico Dowdle took over as the lead back for Hubbard after he went down with an injury earlier in the season, and is averaging 156 rushing yards per game in his last three games. It’s crucial to Buffalo that they at least somewhat slow down the dynamic duo of Hubbard and Dowdle if they are to win Sunday.
Key to the game #2: Bills need to come out firing
The Bills offense has taken a dip in play during their losing streak. Over the course of its 4-0 start, Buffalo was averaging 33.3 points per game. On the other hand, the Bills are averaging 17.0 points per game.
“We have to grow our offense,” said Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady. “Especially these last two games, we’re not proud of what we put on tape. Anytime if a team scores 21 points (against us), we should win the football game every single time.”
One constant between both games that Buffalo has lost this season was that the Bills started off both games with bad first halves. Buffalo only mustered up three points in the first half against New England and was outscored 21-7 in the first half vs. Atlanta. If the Bills are to get back in the win column, they will need to play well on offense early.
X-Factor: Bills quarterback Josh Allen
Josh Allen is coming off of his worst game of the season, a two-interception game against Atlanta in which he passed for only 180 yards and led the offense to a season-low 14 points. While performances like that are few and far between for the defending MVP, its one that cannot be followed up if the Bills are going to win on Sunday.
In a game that might be treading towards a shootout due to the potency of Carolina’s rushing offense, a bounce-back game is necessary from Allen. Frankly, a bounce-back by the team is needed to shred the negative energy from the last two games. Allen can be an X-Factor in that regard as well. As one of the team’s two captains, Allen needs to have the team fired up to go on Sunday, especially with the Bills’ path to a sixth straight division title muddied by the newfound success of the New England Patriots this season.
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