Bills Hand Panthers Fourth Straight Loss
The Carolina Panthers fell to the Buffalo Bills 31-14 on Sunday afternoon, dropping their overall record to 5-9 on the year.
One hour prior to kickoff, Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez suffered a quad injury in pregame warmups and was ruled out for the game. Gonzalez handles field goals, extra point attempts, and kickoffs for Carolina, so the Panthers knew that they were going to be put in several difficult situations.
Both defenses showed out early on which led to a scoreless first quarter. The Panthers' defensive front won the line of scrimmage more often than not and were able to get to Allen in the pocket. On the Panthers' second drive of the game, running back Chuba Hubbard busted loose for a gain of 21 to push the Panthers inside the Buffalo 25. The drive stalled out and with a 4th & 9 situation with no kicker, Matt Rhule had no choice but to lineup and go for it. Newton's pass fell incomplete intended for Willie Snead, leaving the Panthers empty-handed.
Carolina's next offensive series also resulted in a turnover on downs. On 4th and 1 from midfield, the Panthers had Newton in the gun and after getting a look at Buffalo's defensive alignment, they elected to call timeout. However, the call out of the timeout was interesting to say the least. Instead of running it with Newton, they called for a quick screen out to Robby Anderson. The ball was thrown short and below Anderson but it wouldn't have mattered if the throw was on target. Brandon Zylstra missed his block and Anderson got knocked off his feet before the ball made it to him.
The Bills took advantage of the terrific field position to notch the first points of the day on a 16-yard carry by Devin Singletary. Carolina followed that up with a three and out and a 17-yard return from Marquez Stevenson set Buffalo up with the ball at about the 45. Allen threw the Bills down the field and connected with Stefon Diggs on a fade to the pylon for a touchdown, beating Stephon Gilmore for the score.
With just a shade under three minutes remaining, safety Jeremy Chinn baited Allen into a bad throw to Diggs and came down with his second interception of the season. On the first play from scrimmage, Newton took off right and flipped the ball to Robby Anderson coming back left on the end around for a huge gain of 31. This time, the Panthers punched it into the end zone as Cam Newton ran it in from four yards out, marking the 75th rushing touchdown of his illustrious career. Newton then delivered a beautiful ball in the back of the end zone to DJ Moore for the two-point conversion.
Buffalo added on a field goal as time expired in the 2nd quarter and took a 17-8 lead into the half.
Midway through the third quarter, the Panthers got a stop as Yetur Gross-Matos shoved Josh Allen out of bounds on third down. However, there was a flag thrown on defensive tackle Bravvion Roy for saying something on the sidelines after the play was over which extended the drive. It was a rather egregious call considering head coach Matt Rhule got shoved by one of the Buffalo offensive linemen right in front of the official, yet Roy was the guilty party. Just a few plays later, Allen hit Gabriel Davis down the field for a 20-yard score to push the lead out to 24-8.
Carolina methodically worked their way down the field, driving the ball 70 yards in over five and a half minutes. Once again, they were stopped on third down and were forced to go for it on fourth. Newton's pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage as right guard John Miller couldn't keep his man on the ground. Fortunately, the Panthers defense picked up a quick stop and gave their offense good field position in plus territory at the 43. Cam Newton checked down to his running back Ameer Abdullah over the middle of the field who scampered in for a 23-yard score. The two-point conversion failed, keeping the score at 24-14.
The Panthers hung in until late in the fourth quarter when former Panthers defensive end Efe Obada recorded back-to-back sacks of Cam Newton, handing the Bills the ball and opportunity to milk the clock. Not only did Buffalo drain the clock down to nearly two minutes but they opted to go for it on 4th & 2 instead of kicking the field goal and it paid off with a touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis, his second of the day.
Carolina will return to Bank of America Stadium next week to play the final home game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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