The Buffalo Bills completely dominated the Carolina Panthers on their way to a 40-9 victory on Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It was evident by Saturday afternoon that the atmosphere inside Bank of America Stadium was going to feel similar to a Bills home game.
Bills fans completely took over the South End of Charlotte, leading to a bartender telling me “You Bills fans have filled up every bar down here for hours”.
The energy was palpable, the players must have felt it and they answered accordingly.
They were once again led by none other than James Cook. Cook has cemented himself as one of the top backs in the league, as right now he sits at 4th in the league in rushing with 537 yards. He ended up with 216 yards and had 153 yards in the first half, most in the first half since his brother Dalvin in 2021.
He thanked his offensive line immediately after the game in his press conference and as he should’ve. The Bills dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball and their blocking sprung not only a long Cook TD, but a long Shakir reception TD as well.
I didn’t know if it was possible, but Cook is on pace to surpass his incredible 2024 campaign this time around and has become arguably as vital to the Bills offensive success as Stefon Diggs was.
Allen struggled today. There’s no way around it. It’s a combination of a few things.
The WRs are struggling down the field and it could be another year where the Bills NEED to add to the WR room.
But Allen didn’t look sharp himself. He missed a few open WRs badly and had a few miscommunications with them as well. It’s been a trend since the Miami game and has continued for weeks even through the bye week. Which makes you think why can’t they fix this? Maybe it’s the personnel. Especially without Josh Palmer, the Bills are just lacking a dynamic downfield threat. It will be interesting to see how they handle it in the coming weeks.
But James Cook saved the day and as long as he can run like he did Sunday, the Bills will continue to have success against most teams.
Defensively, the defensive line won the battle and continuously cause havoc in both the run and pass game. When Andy Dalton had time, he was able to complete some passes downfield and keep the drive alive. But the Bills defense got pressure consistently.
Michael Hoecht was the difference maker we all hoped for. He forced a fumbled, had 1.5 sacks and helped create pressure for his teammates across the line.
Bosa, Phillips, Rousseau and Epenesa, who added an interception himself on a magnificent play at the line, all pitched in with sacks.
It’s the kind of performance you know Brandon Beane has dreamt of with all of his additions and assets he’s thrown at the defensive line. When they can win the trenches like that, everything else falls into place for the defense, which was down Rapp, Milano and Bernard but added Maxwell Hairston in his debut.
The biggest negative from this game was the injury to Ed Oliver, who left the game with a bicep injury that’s appears to be serious. Hopefully the Bills get some good news, but for now, Oliver is going to miss more time this year, which is a severe blow to the Bills defense. He already missed a few games with an ankle injury.
All in all, it was a dominant bounce back performance for the Bills. The offensive and defensive lines dominated and when that happens, you will win a lot of football games.
Allen and the WRs still need to get on the same page and get sharper. Joe Brady needs to find a way to press teams down the field or Brandon Beane needs to address the room and find a way to upgrade it before the trade deadline.
But the run game is as dynamic as ever. Once they fix the passing game, which they will, it’s Josh Allen after all, they will be a machine of an offensive unit.
And if the defensive line additions continue to make an impact like they did in Charlotte and Hairston/Poyer make a difference on the back end as the rookie and the vet, the Bills defensive will improve and defensive struggles will be fewer and further between.
Onto Kansas City.