Hello CSR! Welcome to week 8, and with that your defensive preview for this upcoming Sunday, as the 4-3 Panthers welcome the 4-2 Bills coming off their 2025 bye week. The Bills entered their bye week coming off two
straight losses, with a 23-20 loss to the Patriots in week 5 and a 24-14 loss to the Falcons in week 6. In both games, the Bills were held below their usual 30+ point week production in their previous 4 games (also all wins). They’ll be looking for a get right game against a Panthers team that’s on a 3-0 win streak, and undefeated at home this season as their defense has continued to make steps forward. This week will not be an easy task for the Panthers defense, let’s dive in.
- Find a way to limit Josh Allen. Josh Allen has mostly been cooking this season, though he’s doing it in his own usual dual threat way, as he has 1,397 yards, 11 TDs, and 4 INTs with a 68.5% completion percentage. Meanwhile, on the ground he’s added an additional 254 yards rushing for 3 TDs, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. While Allen is usually an MVP candidate, his performance as a passer has been a bit muted, both as a result of him not having as high octane a group of wide receivers to throw to and a strong rushing attack leading the Bills to be a lot more balanced from a run/pass perspective. Still, Josh Allen is always the guy to worry about, and with the Panthers defense really limiting the run game, Allen may be tasked to take over and throw the ball quite a bit this week. The Panthers are playing sound defense, but if they can’t get consistent pressure on him, he could rip the passing game wide open and really burn them with his legs. He needs to be contained.
- Continue the strong rushing defense. The Panthers defense has made significant strides defending the run in the last few weeks, as they managed to limit the Jets, Cowboys, and Dolphins attacks significantly. The Dolphins and Cowboys had to get away from their rushing attempts while the Jets struggled on offense as a whole, so I’m not necessarily expecting a dominant rush defense performance this week. Between the aforementioned Allen and his always present ability to run with the ball both on scrambles and as a designed rusher, paired with James Cook having a heck of a year as a rusher, this balanced attack by the Bills will not abandon the run unless the Panthers get ahead significantly early. Ejiro Evero has schemed up some nice looks for this defense while the interior line has dominated for the most part across the game. This week is going to be all about limiting big rushing plays.
- Tight end continues to be a problem. The Panthers did fine last week against Mason Taylor and the Jets little carousel of quarterbacks, but overall opposing tight ends have found scores and chunk plays against this team. They’ve started to trend upward these last two weeks, but against the Bills this trend could come to a halt. The Bills leading receiver is tight end Dalton Kincaid, and while he could be banged up, he should attract several first read looks for Josh Allen in the passing game. Whether the Panthers bring a safety down against him or simply scheme as best they can (Jaycee Horn may see him a few times depending on what side of the field and looks the Bills run on offense), they can’t allow him to give Josh Allen a security blanket in a game that may come down to one score, if the Panthers intend to try and keep it competitive.
What are you looking for from the defense this week, Panthers fans?
