Week 8: Buffalo Bills at Carolina Panthers Preview
When and Where: Sunday, October 26th, 1:00 PM at Bank of America Stadium
How to Watch: Airing on FOX
Betting Line: Buffalo -7.5 O/U 46.5
Key Storylines
Losing Streak: How do the Bills respond after back to back losses? Buffalo is now 22-7 following a loss since 2019, 10-3 on the road. They haven’t lost three consecutive games in the regular season since their 2018 campaign. Josh Allen is 7-0 with a passer rating of 100.8 in his career, following a two-game losing streak, with the team averaging 25.1 points in those games.
Bye Week Warriors: The Bills are 8-0 under Coach McDermott, coming off their bye week.
All-Time Lists: Josh Allen needs two rushing touchdowns to tie Cam Newton for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 77. With 1+ passing and 1+ rushing touchdowns, Allen would break a tie with Newton for the most games all-time and stand alone at 46 games. With another 100+ yard receiving performance, Dalton Kincaid can become the first tight end in team history with consecutive 100+ yard games.
Ground Attack: The Bills enter the matchup with the number one rushing offense with 151 yards per game, but 31st in the NFL defensively, giving up 156.3 ypg on the ground. Carolina enters the game third in the NFL in rushing and first over the last three weeks, averaging 193.3 per game behind Rico Dowdle.
Injuries: Bryce Young, by all accounts, will not be playing Sunday, and is currently listed as “Doubtful.” Buffalo will be without DaQuan Jones, Joshua Palmer, and Taylor Rapp, who is expected to be on IR. These are confirmed to go along with the uncertainty on availability surrounding Curtis Samuel, Kincaid, Matt Milano, and Terrel Bernard.
Player Debuts: Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht are expected to make their much-anticipated debuts on defense with their suspensions ending during the bye week. Rookie first-round pick, Maxwell Hairston, was a surprise active designation. It will be interesting to see how much he plays on Sunday.
Queen Cities: There are many connections between the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers, aside from Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott joining the Bills organization from Carolina in 2017. Curtis Samuel, Dane Jackson, DaQuan Jones, Sam Franklin, and Shaq Thompson all spent time in the Panthers organization, and former Bills Boogie Basham and Sam Martin are currently in Carolina.
Friday Injury Reports
Buffalo Bills Friday Injury Report
Carolina Panthers 10-24-25 Injury Report
Matchups to Watch
Bills Front 7 vs Rico Dowdle: Dowdle racked up 389 yards on 53 carries for a 7.4 ypc average in the absence of Chuba Hubbard in weeks five and six. Dowdle saw a slight dip in carries with Hubbard’s return but still average 4.6 ypc in the Panthers week 7 victory against the Jets. The Bills run defense has to be better this week after getting humiliated against the Falcons when Bijan Robinson torched them for 170 yards on the ground.
Benford vs McMillan: I assume that Christian Benford will be lining up across from rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan most of the afternoon Sunday. Benford has struggled to start this season, and McMillan has been Carolina’s most productive receiver, leading the team in targets, receptions, receiving yards, first downs, and tied for first with two touchdowns. He has seen a slight dip in production with the ground game picking up, but this is a matchup to watch as he should be Andy Dalton’s top target on offense.
Bills Receivers vs Panthers Secondary: The Bills receivers have had two weeks to hear about their inability to separate and get open for Josh Allen against man coverage. How will they respond against a defense that’s currently 10th in passing yards allowed? I am really looking at Keon Coleman and Elijah Moore, who have to step up and be more productive than they have in recent weeks, for a depleted receiver group facing a strong trio in Chau Smith-Wade, Jaycee Horn, and Mike Jackson.
Andy Dalton vs Bills Pass Rush: Dalton is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL, and probably a worse matchup for the Bills defense than Bryce Young would have been. He’s not going to beat them with his legs or try to escape the pocket like Young can, so the Bills’ pass rush will need to get pressure on Dalton and make him uncomfortable. If the Panthers can get their ground game going and protect Dalton, it will be a long day for the Bills. Joey Bosa, Ed Oliver, and Greg Rousseau need to step up.
X Factors
Carolina Panthers: Derrick Brown and Rico Dowdle. Brown is the number two ranked interior defender per PFF with a strong return from the knee injury that limited him to one game in 2024. The Bills will have their hands full slowing Brown down and will need to get their running game going early to help the offense limit Brown’s impact on the game. Dowdle is the one player that the Bills cannot afford to beat them on offense. They have to sell out against the run and make the offense one-dimensional.
Buffalo Bills: Deone Walker and Khalil Shakir. Walker ranks second in the NFL in run stuff percentage, and he will need to continue his disruption in the running game if the Bills expect to leave Carolina victorious. Slowing the running game down early to give the offense more opportunities to get an early lead will be crucial to turning the Panthers into a passing offense. Shakir needs to be the guy in this matchup and make Josh Allen’s life easier. Carolina plays a lot of zone, which will allow Shakir to find his spots to sit and give Allen easy targets. With Kincaid returning from injury and Palmer out, Shakir needs to step up and be the number one target the Bills are searching for.
Keys to Victory
Buffalo gets its offense rolling and builds an early lead, forcing the Panthers to throw more than they would like. The Bills' defense sells out against the run, leaving Andy Dalton forced to be the entire offense.
Prediction
Bills 31 Panthers 17
Go Bills!
