The Buffalo Bills defeated the Carolina Panthers on Sunday by a score of 31-14. The game was scoreless until Devin Singletary started off the scoring with a 16-yard run. The Bills would start the second quarter with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs to give the Bills a 14-0 lead. The Panthers would get into the game on a four-yard Cam Newton touchdown run and make things interesting by going for two and connecting with DJ Moore for the two-point conversion. Josh Allen and the Bills would try to get some points in before the half, and some Panthers penalties helped get the Bills in scoring position. The Bills would still have to settle for a field goal before half as Tyler Bass was good from 26 yards to give the Bills a 17-8 lead at the half.
The Bills would later extend the lead to 24-8 on a 20 yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Gabriel Davis in the third quarter. The Panthers would answer back for the final time on a 23 yard touchdown pass from Cam Newton to Ameer Abdullah, but the two point conversion would fail. Josh Allen and Gabriel Davis would close out the scoring with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass.
Josh Allen ended 19/34, 210 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception on the day. Devin Singletary lead the Bills in rushing for 86 yards and one touchdown. Gabriel Davis lead the Bills in receiving for five receptions, 85 yards, and two touchdowns. The Bills had 312 yards of total offense against Carolina. Let’s dive into my takeaways.
The running game was better against Carolina: Someone besides Josh Allen did not lead the Bills in rushing today. Devin Singletary had a solid day on the ground. He scored one touchdown, rushed for 86 yards, also had one reception for 10 yards.
Gabriel Davis is very underrated: Davis has really shined the past two weeks. He scored two touchdowns against the Panthers and I wonder why it has taken him so long to be involved.
Josh Allen has no protection: How have the Bills not cleared this up by now? This is starting to remind me, and forgive me for comparing this to the Dolphins, when Ryan Tannehill was the starter in Miami he was injured so much because he had no offensive line. Allen is either running for his life in the backfield or is getting dropped. It is really frustrating to me and why the offensive line production has been lacking.
The sloppy play has to stop: The Bills were up 14-0, and then a Josh Allen interception started some sloppy plays by the Bills. Buffalo could have put Carolina away if the Bills did not let them hang around after the interception, allowing Carolina to score points. If the Bills weren’t fortunate enough to have an elite defense, this could have ended much worse.
Now it is off to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots at Gillette for a battle of first place. A team that embarrassed Buffalo in Orchard Park, the Indianapolis Colts, also embarrassed the Patriots on Saturday night in Indianapolis. The Bills have an excellent opportunity for first place in the AFC East against the Patriots. The Bills won their previous trip to Gillette, and let’s hope they come back to Western New York with the same result as they did last year.
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