It’s the final week of the NFL preseason as a pair of teams with plenty of connections take the field in the Tar Heel State. The Buffalo Bills are on the road as they travel to face the Carolina Panthers Friday night looking to close the tune-up part of the slate on a positive note. Buffalo cruised to a 42-15 home win over Denver Saturday in their week two preseason contest. Carolina was upended 20-10 on the road by New England in their week two contest last Friday night in their most recent game. The Bills own a 6-2 edge in the head-to-head regular season series, including a 31-14 home romp in the most recent meeting on December 14, 2021. They also won the last preseason matchup, 27-14, on the road on February 16, 2019.
Buffalo was much more efficient in week 2 of the preseason as they shredded Denver at home Saturday. The Bills carved up the Broncos’ defense, scoring touchdowns on their first six drives, as they pounded Denver into submission. Buffalo gave up a field goal on the Broncos’ opening offensive possession only to shred the Broncos as they outscored Denver 28-3 the rest of the first half and rolled the rest of the way. The Bills rolled up a 510-274 edge in total offense, racked up a 32-18 advantage in first downs and overcame a 31:17 to 28:43 disadvantage in time of possession. Neither team turned the ball over. Buffalo quarterbacks hit 26 of 29 passes while the run game averaged 7.7 yards per carry with four scores.
Josh Allen hit all three of his pass attempts for 45 yards and a score in the preseason. It’s unclear how much, if at all, he’ll play in this contest. Case Keenum (27 of 36, 279 yards, TD, two INT) and Matt Barkley (25 of 32, 289 yards, INT) are the next guys in line with Keenum expected to be the #2 on the depth chart. Raheem Blackshear (11 carries, 69 yards, two TD) and Duke Johnson (15 carries, 64 yards, two TD) are fighting for a spot on the roster. Zack Moss (seven carries, 56 yards, two TD), rookie James Cook (seven carries, 43 yards) and Devin Singletary (four carries, 39 yards) are the lead backs on the depth chart. In the passing game, keep an eye out for Isaiah Hodgins (team-high 12 receptions, 105 yards) and Khalil Shakir (eight grabs, 151 yards) as they try to position themselves on the depth chart. Kicker Tyler Bass has booted all seven extra point attempts and both his field goal tries with a long of 48 this season. Rookie punter Matt Araiza, aka the Punt God, has won the job as the Bills cut Matt Haack on Monday, along with wide receiver Tavon Austin. One other player that isn’t in the team’s plans: guard Cody Fo rd, who was a second-round pick in 2019. He was traded to Arizona for a fifth-round pick in 2023. That’s a good return for a guy that likely was going to be dumped anyway.