Cat Scratch Reader
The Carolina Panthers sorely missed Bryce Young and suffered catastrophic failures on both sides of the ball in an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Bills.
The Panthers got the ball first and unceremoniously went three and out. The Bills got the game started in full with one of their trademark opening drives. Josh Allen completed one pass, but the drive was mostly the James Cook show. He picked up yards in moderate chunks before giving way to Ty Johnson. The defense was able to stiffen up there and Trevin Wallace got home on a blitz to sack Josh Allen and force a field goal.
The second attempt at possessing the football went a little better. The offense matriculated down the field and nearly scored with a Rico Dowdle run on third down around midfield, but he was run down from behind after stumbling through the line. A couple plays later, Andy Dalton was caught from behind trying to scramble and lost the ball.
A couple big plays had the Bills in Panthers territory as the first quarter drew to a close.
The Bills started the second quarter in the shadow of the Panthers’ goalpost, but a reckless play by Josh Allen took them the wrong way. He dipped dived ducked and dodged backwards until it was him versus four Panthers lineman. He still tried to escape, but Nic Scourton dragged him down to force another field goal.
Dalton found Tetairoa McMillan for a chunk play to move the Panthers across midfield. A few more modest plays moved the offense into field goal range, but the drive ended when Dalton missed an open Jimmy Horn on an corner route. Ryan Fitzgerald split the uprights on his field goal attempt.
The Bills stayed leaning on the run, but they were able to pop a good one. James Cook burst through the middle and there were no defenders past the second level, leaving Cook to run a one man race for a 64 yard touchdown.
The Panthers had another unceremonious punt, and then the Bills did the same as the Panthers took away all of Allen’s options in the passing game. Carolina got the ball back with a chance to score before the half, but Dalton threw a screen pass right to AJ Epenesa, who plays for the Bills. He ran it back to the one yard line which set up a Josh Allen quarterback sneak.
They had one more chance to score before the half, and they almost did. Almost. A couple of solid intermediate passes moved the Panthers into Bills territory then a Joey Bosa tripping penalty set Carolina up inside the 10. On third down with no timeouts, Dalton inexplicably took a sack after about five seconds of looking for a wide receiver, and the clock ran out as the Panthers scurried to get the field goal unit on the field.
The Bills hit the Panthers with another quick...
