Bills vs. Panthers Game Preview: Storylines, odds, injuries, player to watch, prediction

The Buffalo Bills have lost two in a row and are now in dire need of a victory as they head to Charlotte to take on the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at 1 p.m.

It’s been a rough few weeks for the Bills, dating back to a Week 5 defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots, and now Buffalo hopes to respond out of their bye week against a Panthers team that has won three straight games. Carolina has rattled off wins over the Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets in consecutive weeks, gaining a head of steam entering its Week 8 matchup with Buffalo.

Now sitting as the No. 2 team in the AFC East, the Bills (4-2) are hoping to keep pace with the first-place Patriots (5-2) by defeating the Panthers (4-3), who are currently chasing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2), who sit atop the NFC South.

Kickoff is less than 24 hours away. Let’s dive into the news and a few notes surrounding this week’s rivalry matchup:

Oct 5, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook (4) rushes the ball against the New England Patriots during the first half at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

What’s Vegas Saying?

The Bills are 7.5-point favorites, per FanDuel, the fourth time they have been favored by a touchdown or more this season. Buffalo is 2-4 against the spread during the 2025 campaign, failing to cover the previous three times they were favored by 7 points or more. The Panthers are 5-2 against the spread this season, including a Week 2 cover against the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which they entered as 7-point underdogs.

Weather Report

Favorable conditions are expected for this week’s non-conference tilt, with temperatures of 62 degrees and winds of under 10 mph in the forecast. There is a slight chance of rain showers on Sunday in Charlotte, but if the precipitation holds off, it should be a beautiful day for football.

MORE: 3 stats may define Week 8 matchup between Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers

Bills Injuries

Safety Taylor Rapp, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and wide receiver Joshua Palmer have all been declared out for the Week 8 matchup with the Panthers.

Jones sustained a calf injury during pregame warm-ups before the Bills’ Week 6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, while Palmer was lost during the first half of that game due to ankle and knee injuries. Jones and Palmer are each considered week-to-week, per Head Coach Sean McDermott, while Rapp was placed on IR with a knee injury he has been dealing with since training camp.

In Jones’ absence, rookie Deone Walker is likely to see the start at DT, while Jordan Phillips has been elevated from the team's practie squad ahead of the Week 8 contest. Palmer 's absence will hurt a reeling Bills' pass-catching corps. The team may elect to increase Tyrell Shavers' snaps as a result. Rapp will likely be replaced by veteran Jordan Poyer, who was also elevated from the practice squad on Saturday. Poyer previously came on for an injured Cole Bishop in Week 6.

Elsewhere on the team’s injury report, Linebackers Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano have both been deemed questionable, as has tight end Dalton Kincaid.

Bernard exited the game against the Falcons after suffering an ankle injury, while Milano has missed the team’s past two games due to a pectoral injury. Kincaid missed the Week 6 matchup with the Falcons due to an oblique injury.

Finally, rookie Maxwell Hairston is set to make his rookie debut against the Panthers after he was activated from Injured Reserve. The first-round cornerback missed the team's first six games due to a knee injury he sustained during training camp.

Panthers Injuries

The Panthers announced via a spokesperson on Friday that backup quarterback Andy Dalton will get the start against the Bills after starter Bryce Young sustained an ankle injury that forced him out of the team’s Week 7 win over the New York Jets. Young has been declared doubtful to play on Sunday.

Dalton has played two games against the Sean McDermott-led Bills during his career, finishing those matchups 1-1. His last meeting with the Bills came in 2019, when Dalton quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals to a 21-17 defeat. He finished that game 20 of 36 passing for 250 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

No other Panthers player has an injury designation entering the Week 8 matchup.

Coaching Matchup

For the third time this season, the Bills will take on a head coach with two or fewer years of experience. Panthers head coach Dave Canales is the latest neophyte to face off with Sean McDermott and the Bills, sporting a career record of 9-15 in just short of a season and a half in Carolina.

On the other side of the coin, McDermott carries a career winning percentage of 0.642, including playoffs, which is the fifth-highest mark of any active head coach with more than one year of experience. McDermott has never lost coming out of a bye week, recording eight straight victories to begin his career, the longest streak in NFL history.

MORE: Buffalo Bills' surprise star LB has lasting impact on team's Week 8 foe

Oct 5, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott looks on from the sidelines during the first half against the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Top Storyline

All eyes will be on the Bills this week, with many around the league wondering if this team is as good as it was projected to be at the start of the season. Buffalo is not only in need of a victory, but it needs to look good doing it.

There have been far too many games this season in which the Bills have not put their best foot forward, leading many to question their Super Bowl candidacy. This week, against a Panthers team playing its backup quarterback, Buffalo must once again prove itself as the bully it was expected to be at the outset of the season.

Player To Watch

The Bills’ defensive line is expected to receive quite the boost with edge rusher Michael Hoecht and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi returning from suspension this week. Both players missed the team’s first six games of the year due to a violation of the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drug Policy. But they returned to the team facility during the bye week and are now expected to be inserted into the DL rotation this weekend.

The most intriguing of the two is Hoecht, whose versatility should allow defensive coordinator Bobby Babich to get creative with his unit up front. The 28-year-old can play inside, outside and has also been asked to drop back in coverage as a linebacker throughout his career.

Many are expecting a Bruce Smith-level impact from Hoecht, and while those expectations are misguided, he should provide an ample boost for Buffalo in the defensive trenches.

Buffalo Bills defensive end Michael Hoecht gets ready to move to another area to start a new drill at Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on Aug.6, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Prediction — Bills 30, Panthers 17

This has all the makings of a get-right game for the Bills.

With the Panthers playing their backup quarterback and Buffalo chomping at the bit the past two weeks to get back on the winning track, expect the Bills to come out swinging early and often while rolling to a convincing win.

Quarterback Josh Allen will have a big day of over 200 yards passing and three total touchdowns, while tight end Dalton Kincaid will make a significant impact on the Buffalo passing game in his return from an oblique injury that forced him out of the Week 6 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.