Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 31-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Highmark Stadium …
With No. 2 wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders out because of a knee injury against the Carolina Panthers, Davis stepped into the starting lineup and came through in a big way during a 31-14 win at Highmark Stadium.
RUNNING GAME: B
Devin Singletary had season highs in carries and yards, with 22 for 86, including a 16-yard touchdown that opened the scoring. If you throw out Josh Allen’s two kneeldowns, Singletary was the only player to have more than one rushing attempt.
“It feels good,” said Singletary, who is usually not the most illuminating quote. “I think we can build off of this.”
For a run game that has taken a whole bunch of criticism this season, it was indeed a step in the right direction.
“It wasn't so much of proving the doubters wrong, because there's always going to be doubters,” Singletary said. “It was just doing what we needed to do to go 1-0.”
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Isaiah McKenzie had one carry out of the Wildcat formation, but it was a good one – he gained 8 yards on third-and-5. Allen’s only actual rushing attempt was a scramble for 26 yards in which he broke an early tackle.
“We all know who we have next week,” Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. “It’s no secret. … Every game from here on out for us is a playoff game, and we’ve got to treat it as such.”
PASSING GAME: B
The shuffled offensive line struggled in pass protection at times, as Allen was sacked four times, including twice on the Bills’ first two offensive series. Allen’s accuracy was also off early, perhaps as a result of the pressure, as he started the game 2 for 5 before a 15-yard completion to Dawson Knox just before the end of the first quarter got the offense going. Allen finished 19 of 34 for 210 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Knox was a reliable target, catching four balls for 38 yards. Gabriel Davis was a stud, finishing with five catches for 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Slot receiver Cole Beasley had four catches for 85 yards, but that came on eight targets. The incomplete throws to Beasley were not catchable. Stefon Diggs had four catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers would have signed up for that stat line from Diggs before the start of the game. Backup tight end Tommy Sweeney had a bad drop on his only target.
The Buffalo Bills had to contend with Carolina’s best strength – its two elite speed rushers – with a shuffled offensive line after Dion Dawkins tested positive for Covid-19.
RUN DEFENSE: C+
The final numbers look worse on paper than they felt during the course of the game, as the Panthers piled up 151 yards on 29 carries, an average of 5.2 yards per attempt. With a running quarterback, however, the run defense can reasonably be expected to give up a bit more than normal, especially if it means the other team isn’t piling up a lot of passing yards. That’s the case here. The Bills were hurt by an early 21-yard run by Panthers rookie running back Chuba Hubbard and a slick, 30-yard gain on a nice reverse by receiver Robby Anderson. Newton was his usual challenge as a runner, gaining 71 yards on 15 attempts, including a 4-yard touchdown. There were some big plays against the run, though, starting on the Panthers’ second offensive series when Mario Addison and Tremaine Edmunds teamed up to stop Newton for a 2-yard loss on a second-and-7 run, helping to short-circuit that drive. Later in the first quarter, Jerry Hughes dropped Panthers running back Ameer Abdullah for a 4-yard loss.
Here’s what we’re asking ourselves after the Buffalo Bills’ 31-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
PASS DEFENSE: A
Plenty of attention was paid to the four-man rush ahead of this game, with coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier in agreement that it needed to be better. Against the Panthers, it was. Efe Obada had a pair of sacks against his former team, part of a pass rush that produced four sacks (cornerback Taron Johnson and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei had the others). The Bills were especially active at the line of scrimmage in tipping passes, as Harrison Phillips, Hughes and Greg Rousseau all had passes defended. The Bills had eight total passes defended, as cornerbacks Dane Jackson and Levi Wallace, safety Micah Hyde and linebackers Matt Milano and A.J. Klein also had one each.
Josh Allen, Gabriel Davis and Devin Singletary led the offense for the Buffalo Bills in a 31-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Punt returner Marquez Stevenson had a nice game, gaining 31 yards on a pair of attempts. Stevenson also returned one kick for 13 yards, while McKenzie gained 36 yards on two kick returns, including one that went for 28 yards in the fourth quarter that gave the Bills solid field position. The kick-coverage unit was as solid as usual, holding Abdullah to 70 yards on four attempts. The punt coverage gave up a 16-yard return to Alex Erickson, although that can partially be attributed to a not-so-great punt by Matt Haack. He finished with five punts, but averaged just 34.4 net yards and placed just one inside the Panthers’ 20-yard line.
COACHING: B
It wasn’t always a thing of beauty, but the Bills are now 11-3 in games following a loss since 2019. That winning percentage of .786 ranks second in the NFL behind only Green Bay (9-0) over that stretch. McDermott improved to 1-1 against his former team, and with the win, the Bills improved to 6-2 all time against Carolina. Their .750 win percentage against the Panthers is their best against any opponent. Credit the offensive coaching staff for adjusting to a pair of starters on the offensive line going on the Covid-19 list ahead of the game. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll’s group got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but stuck with a game plan that included more running than has been the norm.
