Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills are back at it this week, fresh off a much-needed bye in Week 7. Will that week of rest help the Bills re-calibrate their season after a two-game slide? Buffalo is still very much a force in the playoff hunt, but in recent weeks they’ve dropped from the one seed in the AFC playoff race to now fifth as a wild card team (if the season ended today, which it doesn’t).
Entering Week 8, the Bills are sizeable road favorites against the Carolina Panthers. This, despite Buffalo’s two-game skid and Carolina’s three-game winning streak. Oddsmakers and bettors just see the Bills as the better team. That’s par for the course when Josh Allen is a key part of the conversation.
The odds were set prior to news that Panthers starting quarterback Bryce Young would miss Week 8 due to a high ankle sprain. That means 15-year NFL veteran quarterback Andy Dalton is set to make first start of the 2025 season.
As of publishing, the odds had not shifted to account for the quarterback change. FanDuel Sportsbook lists the Bills as 7.5-point favorites (-7.5) over the Panthers, with an over/under points total set at 47.5. For interested parties, these are odds to continually monitor during the lead-up to Sunday’s 1 p.m. EDT kickoff.
How Buffalo responds to early season adversity could reveal a lot about their chances late in the year. Buffalo should get a boost with defensive reinforcements for their trip to North Carolina, now that defensive end Michael Hoecht and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi join the teams after each served a six-game suspension for failed performance enhancing drug testing.
It remains to be seen how extensively (or if at all) either Hoecht and/or Ogunjobi are involved after missing so much time. Both players took part in training camp before beginning the regular season on the NFL’s suspended/return list.
The Bills will also try to correct recent missteps on offense, where questionable play calling has seen the unit drift away from a strength in running back James Cook. That shift has seen quarterback Josh Allen struggling to fully click with his newest group of wide receivers while tight end Dalton Kincaid deals with an oblique injury.
Buffalo is 4-2, having scored 167 points while surrendering 137 points. The Bills are 1-1 against the NFC South so far, with a win against the New Orleans Saints and a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Carolina is 4-3, with 145 points for, and 154 points against. The Panthers are 2-1 against the AFC East this season, winning against the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, while enduring a loss to the New England Patriots.
The Bills lead the head-t0-head series against the Panthers 6-2, with Buffalo winning last regular-season meeting 31-14 during the 2021 NFL season. That was Josh Allen’s first game against Carolina.
