Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills: Game Facts and a Prediction

When the Buffalo Bills host the Carolina Panthers Sunday, everything will be on the line for the home team.

Although a loss wouldn't mathematically eliminate the Bills (7-6) from the playoffs, it would reduce their chances from 67% to 36%, according to the FiveThirtyEight simulator, which is a site no members of the Bills Mafia will want to visit if their favorite team can't figure out a way to hand the free-falling Panthers (5-8) their fourth straight loss.

A win jacks their chances up to 76%, however.

Here's a look at the current state of each team and how this game should shape up.

THE BASICS

Game: Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills.

Date: Dec. 19, 1 p.m.

Venue: Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y.

Records: Panthers (5-8); Bills (7-6).

Betting info: Bills by 11½. Over/under, 44.

TV: FOX.

Panthers depth chart

Bills depth chart

INJURIES

Panthers: CB A.J. Bouye (foot) is out. G Michael Jordan (hamstring), G John Miller (ankle) and WR D.J. Moore (hamstring) are questionable.

DT Derrick Brown was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday.

Bills: WR Emmanuel Sanders (knee) is doubtful. DT Star Lotulelei (toe), DE A.J. Epenesa (ankle) and RB Taiwan Jones (knee) are questionable.

T Dion Dawkins was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday. Because he's fully vaccinated, he can be removed from the list after just one negative test, which means he hasn't been ruled out for Sunday yet.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS

After starting the season with three straight wins, the Panthers have been hit with adversity they haven't been able to overcome.

At the top of the list is the loss for the season of running back Christian McCaffrey, who was an All-Pro with 1,387 rushing yards and 1,005 receiving yards in 2019 but has been limited to 10 games since.

They're 4-3 in games he's played this season and 1-5 without him.

The Panthers also saw starting quarterback Sam Darnold go down with an injury and reached out to bring back former starter Cam Newton. Newton, Darnold and P.J. Walker have each started games this season, but their collective effort has produced disastrous results from the most important position in sports.

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Chuba Hubbard carried the bulk of the running load in McCaffrey's absence but is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry.

Carolina has an abundance of talent on defense, however, starting with linebacker Haason Redick (10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles), defensive end Brian Burns (8.0 sacks, two forced fumbles), linebacker Shaq Thompson (80 tackles, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions) and safety Jeremy Chinn (team-high 90 tackles). Cornerback Donte Jackson has contributed two interceptions, a team-high 10 passes defended and 61 tackles.

ABOUT THE BILLS

The Bills are coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay after falling behind by three touchdowns in the first half before rebounding to force overtime.

The comeback was fueled by the legs and right arm of quarterback Josh Allen, who suffered a foot sprain while being dragged down from behind on one of the 12 runs that netted him 109 yards.

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Allen has been deemed healthy enough to start again this week, but his offensive line could be without left tackle Dion Dawkins, who was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Friday.

Allen's favorite target, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, has 78 catches for 972 yards and seven TDs. Running back Devin Singletary continues to lead the Bills in rushing yards (547) and is averaging 4.9 yards per attempt. But the Bills have struggled all season with consistency in establishing their running game.

Emmanuel Sanders (40 catches, 606 yards, four TDs) is expected to miss this game with a knee injury, but second-year receiver Gabriel Davis (24 catches, 285 yards, four TDs) is poised to step in.

Safeties Micah Hyde (55 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries) and Jordan Poyer (77 tackles and team-high five interceptions) man the back end of a defense that has allowed NFL-lows of 4.77 yards per play and 288.9 yards per game.

PREDICTION

The season trek for these teams points to an ugly intersection that will more resemble a preseason game than one in which either team is in peak form for a stretch run.

The Panthers' offense has been mostly a mess all season. The Bills' offense has been almost as much miss as hit, and the feeling here is that trend will continue in this game, in which scoring should be at a premium because of all kinds of drops, fumbles and overall offensive malfunctions that won't even necessarily have to do with the opponents across the line of scrimmage.

That said, this is tougher overall matchup for the Panthers than it is for the Bills, who have limited quarterbacks to a 67.7 rating this season.

Bills 17, Panthers 13.

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.