Buffalo bounces back following their bye week.
The Buffalo Bills quelled their pre-bye concerns with a 40-9 win over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.
The last two weeks have been painful for the Bills faithful. It has been an incredibly long fortnight.
After a surprise loss to the New England Patriots in Week 5, they compounded that with a dismal display in Atlanta against the Falcons.
Bills Mafia had not seen back-to-back losses in over a year (Week 4 and 5 of 2024).
You could say the concern was justified, particularly upon further analysis of the performances in question.
Coming out of the bye week to face a resurgent Carolina Panthers – a team that seemingly rushed the ball for fun – were about to run all over the Bills.
Then news broke that Bryce Young was injured and that Andy Dalton would be starting for the Panthers. It was a sign, perhaps, that some fortune might be coming the Bills’ way.
Slow start but Buffalo got rumbling
Do not let the final scoreline deceive you. This was a painful watch on offense for the most part.
The Bills started the game by forcing the Panthers to punt and then having an 11-play, 49-yard drive for a field goal.
They followed that with a Gregory Rousseau forced fumble, recovered by Christian Benford – two of the summer resigns combining will satisfy Bills Mafia at least.
Again, the subsequent Buffalo drive ended in a Matt Prater field goal.
The Bills had run 23 plays on two drives for just 103 yards. Not exactly fluid football. Should the Bills fans’ concerns continue?
Cook answers the bell
Today belonged to James Cook, who provided the spark when he tore off a 64-yard touchdown run with seven minutes remaining in the second quarter to put the Bills up 12-3.
James Cook already at 146 rushing yards after this 64-yard TD. pic.twitter.com/Df1CkiG0de
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 26, 2025
Cook had 214 rushing yards on 19 carries for two touchdowns – a career-best single game total. His previous best was 179 in week 15 of 2023 against Dallas.
This personal rushing total is also tied for sixth for the Bills franchise with Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas’ single-game personal record. What good company!
I wrote in my Week 8 fantasy article that James Cook could have a big day but I did not expect it to be quite like this.
For the Bills to get back to winning ways, they needed to dominate via the run game and that is exactly how they asserted themselves.
James Cook broke off another big run later in the game – a 21-yard dart through the middle of the Carolina defense – for his second touchdown
Bills fans should take some solace from the establishing of the running game again. It is exactly a week before they face the Kansas City Chiefs, a game the Bills will need to control the clock via the ground game.
Buffalo Wings lacking spice – in need of seasoning
In contrast to the running game, the passing game feels stunted and disjointed.
This is not anything new; it has felt ‘off’ for much of the season.
Bills receivers have struggled to separate in coverage and Josh Allen has held onto the ball for longer as a result, hoping someone gets open. This has then resulted in him being sacked far more often.
Allen has been sacked 14 times in seven games so far this season. That is the same number of sacks he had in 2024 in 17 games.
It is easy to point the finger at the lack of a clear-cut No.1 wide receiver. Since the departure of Stefon Diggs in the 2024 offseason, it has been a major talking point.
This was not an issue last year, however, as the mantra “Everybody eats” was uttered time and again. The Bills spread the receptions around multiple receivers like Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid.
So what has changed? And why do other passing attacks with similar calibre players seem to be doing fine?
For example, on last week’s podcast, we discussed at length the Daniel Jones-led Indianapolis Colts and how potent their offense is right now. Yes, they have Jonathan Taylor, but are the passing weapons much better than what Joe Brady has at his disposal?
I think the responsibility to get the Bills rolling again squarely lies with Joe Brady. He needs to prove he can scheme this talent into a position to succeed.
Defense gets clutch
Turnovers win games. It is an obvious fact but a correct one nonetheless.
The Bills generated one turnover in each of their first five games before creating nothing of note against Atlanta in Week 6.
Against the Panthers in Week 8, they recovered two fumbles, collected one interception and racked up seven sacks along the way.
The interception, in particular, was a beauty. AJ Epenesa, at the line of scrimmage, showed the awareness to stand up tall to bat and then pluck the ball out of the air and return it inside the Panthers own 5-yard line to set up a Josh Allen rushing touchdown a few moments later.
That is more like it from Bobby Babich’s unit.
If this team is to go deep into the playoffs again, we will need more performances like today.
Shoutout to linebacker Michael Hoecht, playing his first game for the Buffalo Bills following his signing this offseason and six-game suspension for PED violations. Deep in the third quarter, he sacked Andy Dalton and forced a fumble. Green shoots for this defense.
MICHAEL HOECHT IN HIS BILLS DEBUT:
– 1.5 Sacks
– 3 Tackles
– 1 TFL
– 1 QB Hit
– 1 Forced FumbleDAWGGGGGG 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tnQRWXiCQA
— BillsOnReal (@BillsOnReal) October 26, 2025
Injuries piling up
Okay, I get it – what team is not injured this season? Everyone is feeling it. If you go to Levi Stadium in San Francisco, you might just get given a uniform and some cleats because those guys are truly banged up.
The Bills lost another key player in Week 8 however, with Ed Oliver leaving the game and quickly being ruled out. Early reports suggest it is a pectoral injury and it could be a lengthy spell on the sideline.
Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano also sat out this game. The former was active but did not feature; the latter was inactive.
Coming into the game, Taylor Rapp and DaQuan Jones were also both ruled out. Admittedly, Rapp has had a torrid time to the season and was borderline being benched in favour of Jordan Poyer anyway.
That is right – Jordan Poyer is back. More on that later in the week.
The one silver lining was that 2025 first round pick Maxwell Hairston made his debut after recovering from his hamstring injury. We will also dissect his first start later this week ahead of the Chiefs matchup in Week 9.
The herd continues its migration
The Bills hierarchy will be happy with what appears to be a dominant win over the Carolina Panthers.
Maybe I am being overly critical, but the concerns have not dissipated as quickly as they arrived.
The Bills move on to host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 – the Bills have won their last four regular season matchups against the Chiefs dating back to 2021. As we know all too well, they have also lost their last four playoff matchups against the Chiefs, also dating back to 2021.
Maybe this will be another dress rehearsal for a playoff matchup. But for now, the Bills should simply focus on getting back on course and attempting to move to 6-2.
I am just glad to be writing this article with the team sitting at 5-2. It is not worth dwelling on how this could have been written if the losing streak was alive and the Bills were 4-3 and losing ground in the AFC East.
Never in doubt. Right?
Predictions: WIN
This was correct. I am so pleased to get back to winning ways in the HuddleUK predictions league!
