Buffalo Bills

Rush Review: Buffalo 27 Carolina 14

Preseason

The Carolina Panthers came out with low energy and poor execution on their first couple series on both sides of the ball to be down by 10 points very early in the first quarter and never recovered in a 27-14 home loss against the Buffalo Bills at Bank of America Stadium on this past Friday night.

It was announced an hour before kickoff that QB Cam Newton, TE Greg Olsen, RB Christian McCaffrey, LB Luke Kuechly and LB Shaq Thompson were sitting out this game to minimize unnecessary risks at this point during the preseason. This opened up opportunities for key rotational players and depth guys to make an impact. However, watching this game over again was bitter and head scratching as numerous fundamental mistakes repeated themselves. The remaining expected starters on offense and defense played the first three series yet could only muster a few good plays here and there as their on performance lacked intensity and effectiveness. This energy just seemed to carry over to the 2nd and 3rd units for the remainder of the game. All three phases of the team took their turns at disappointing the hometown crowd who had been eagerly awaiting a solid showing. The dominating playmaking that the Panthers had in the two joint practices leading up to this preseason game did not transfer over to the actual game.

Here are the typical statistical numbers from the game by ESPN:

Matchup
1st Downs 20 18
Passing 1st downs 12 9
Rushing 1st downs 6 5
1st downs from penalties 2 4
3rd down efficiency 6-13 2-13
4th down efficiency 0-0 1-2
Total Plays 63 66
Total Yards 373 258
Total Drives 11 12
Yards per Play 5.9 3.9
Passing 279 155
Comp-Att 21-31 22-42
Yards per pass 8.7 3.4
Interceptions thrown 1 1
Sacks-Yards Lost 1-1 3-30
Rushing 94 103
Rushing Attempts 31 21
Yards per rush 3.0 4.9
Red Zone (Made-Att) 2-4 1-2
Penalties 11-100 7-62
Turnovers 2 1
Fumbles lost 1 0
Interceptions thrown 1 1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs 1 0
Possession 31:40 28:20
Here are the stats that The 4 Man Rush are tracking on offensive personnel groupings and defensive personnel alignments:
12 personnel (1 RB 2 TE 2 WR) was used on five plays with two runs and three passes. QB was under center four times and in shotgun one time.
11 personnel (1 RB 1 TE 3 WR) was used on 43 plays with seven runs and 36 passes. QB was under center two times and in shotgun 41 times.
21 personnel (2 RB 1 TE 2 WR) was used on eight plays with four runs and four passes. QB was under center seven times and in shotgun one time.
22 personnel (2 RB 2 TE 1 WR) was used on two plays which both was runs. QB was under center on both plays.
3-4 base personnel (3 defensive linemen 4 linebackers 4 defensive backs) was used on 19 defensive snaps.
4-2 nickel personnel (4 defensive linemen 2 linebackers 5 defensive backs) was used on 39 defensive snaps.
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Preparing for War With the Buffalo Panthers (Bills)

Logical With Larry

Familiar Faces

  • General Manager Brandon Beane: Mr. Beane began as an intern with the Carolina Panthers in 1998. In 2008, he was promoted to Director of Football Operations after holding various roles within the organization in previous years. He held that role for six years before transitioning to Assistant General Manager from 2015 to 2016. That experience led to a job opportunity as the General Manger of the Buffalo Bills.
  • Head Coach Sean McDermott: With most organizations, the General Manager selects the Head Coach. To no surprise, Mr. Beane selected another familiar face in Sean McDermott to be the new Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills. He was the Defensive Coordinator for the Panthers from 2011 to 2016. After boasting a top 10 defense for several years during his tenure with the team, it was a no brainer that he ended up at the top of Mr. Beane’s list.

 A Glance at the Roster

Because of the front office and staff connections with the Panthers, fans will notice some familiar faces when we kick off on Friday night. The Bills have signed several former Panthers, but some players currently with Bills are Star Lotulelei, Kurt Coleman, Dean Marlowe and Captain Munnerlyn. It should also be noted that the Bills scout similarly to the Panthers. They have drafted several players that the Panthers either met with or showed heavy interest in. Some players that The 4 Man Rush had on its most recent draft board were former Oklahoma Offensive Tackle Cody Ford,  former Houston Defensive Tackle Ed Oliver and former Buffalo University Quarterback Tyree Jackson.

What to Expect

In only his second season, Bills quarterback Josh Allen already has a reputation for having one of the biggest arms in all of football. With his top targets Zay Jones, Andre Roberts, and Cole Beasley having sub 4.4 40 speed, we should expect Allen to take some shots downfield. Curtis Samuel has made a lot of explosive plays in camp thus far, so it will be interesting see how capable the Panthers secondary is at keeping plays in front of them. The Panthers offensive line had a very underwhelming performance last week. Buffalo presents a very formidable front seven with a rare combination of size and speed at both levels. Star Lotulelei, Shaq Lawson, Jerry Hughes, and Oliver head the defensive line. The linebacker unit is headed by Tremaine Edmunds, former first round pick, who has elite speed and football instincts. This is a good test to see if the offensive line can open some running lanes and neutralize a pretty good pass rush.

Key Matchups:

  • Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore vs Tre’Davious White
  • Panthers interior offensive line vs Ed Oliver and Star Lotulelei
  • Daryl Williams, Taylor Moton and Greg Little vs Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson

Rush Review: Training Camp Day #15 (Second Joint Practice)

Camp Wofford

#1. Today was the final practice of training camp at Wofford College for the 2019 season. There was plenty of speculation among Carolina Panthers fans about if this was the very last time the city of Spartanburg SC will be the summer home for the team. The current contract expired today and there has not been any statement by Carolina Panthers owner Mr. David Tepper or by anyone in the Wofford administration.

#2. Players who did not practice today: C Matt Paradis (vet day), LB Shaq Thompson (vet day), DT Gerald McCoy (vet day), TE Ian Thomas (rib contusion), CB Kevon Seymour (hamstring), C Tyler Larsen (unknown) and K Graham Gano (sore leg).  LB/DE Brian Burns came out in full pads but after warming up he was told by the medical staff to take the day off and to do work on the sidelines. He has a slight ankle bruise but expects to play in the game Friday night.

#3. Players getting first team reps on defense: S Tre Boston at FS, CB Javien Elliott at nickel CB, LB Jermaine Carter Jr. and DT Vernon Butler Jr. Players getting first team reps on offense: C John Yarbrough and TE Chris Manhertz.

#4. Positive plays made by the Carolina Panthers offense: QB Cam Newton was able to make Bills rookie DT Ed Oliver jump offsides three times in a row. He was then pulled from the field and got a good cussing out from his position coach. RB Christian McCaffrey runs right up the middle of the defense untouched for about 30 yards. On the very next play Newton threw a deep TD pass to WR Curtis Samuel who was covered by Bills CB Tre’Davious White. TE Greg Olsen makes a spectacular one hand catch behind his back from a Newton pass. TE Chris Manhertz makes back to back catches over good coverage by Bills LB Shaq Lawson. QB Kyle Allen connected on a deep ball with WR Torrey Smith for about 40 yards. RB Reggie Bonnafon runs in for a TD on the last play of the day.

#5. Negative plays made by the Carolina Panthers offense: QB Kyle Allen was the second team QB and one of his passes was intercepted by Bills LB Deon Lacey after the ball bounced off the hands of WR Terry Godwin. The offense got a delay of game penalty that caused head coach Ron Rivera to start cussing very loudly. LT Greg Little gave up a quick pressure to Bills LB Jerry Hughes. Newton was picked of by Bills CB Ryan Lewis. Panthers QBs Newton, Allen and Will Grier had about two-thirds of their pass deflected during team drills.

#6. Positive plays made by the Carolina Panthers defense: LB Luke Kuechly got a pass deflection while covering Bills TE Tommy Sweeney. S Colin Jones got a pass deflection while covering Bills WR Ray-Ray McCloud. CB Donte Jackson got a pass deflection while covering Bills WR Robert Foster. CB Josh Thornton got an interception while covering Bills WR Cam Phillips.

#7. Negative plays made by the Carolina Panthers defense: Bills WR Zay Jones had a very acrobatic TD catch from QB Josh Allen. Billls WR John Brown caught a quick slant pass from Allen for a TD. QB Matt Barkley threw a TD to WR Duke Williams. Barkley threw another TD to RB Christian Wade. Barkley threw his final TD pass to WR Isaiah McKenzie.

#8. Positive play made by the Carolina Panthers special teams: During the gunner drills CB Javien Elliott did a juke and swim move to split the two Buffalo Bills blockers and got a free release down the field. This caused a huge uproar from the Panthers sidelines as special team coaches Chase Blackburn and Ben Jacobs raced down to congratulate him along with several teammates.

#9. Negative play made by the Carolina Panthers special teams: During field goal drills K Joey Slye went 5 for 8 on making successful kicks. Those three misses looked bad too. Prior to Elliott’s successful attempt at gunner all of the other Panthers players were stifled by Bills blockers which got their sideline hyped for most of the period.

#10. Panthers G Norman Price was down on the ground for a few moments then helped up by teammates. He was then carted off by trainers. LB/DE Bruce Irvin and Bills rookie OT Cody Ford had to be separated after Irvin took exception to a really low chop block by Ford. WR Chris Hogan also got into a shouting match with Bills DT LT Walton but both players were quickly separated. DL Bryan Cox Jr. was pulled over on I-85 North near Kings Mountain NC which is about 30 miles west of Charlotte NC. State troopers gave him a ticket for speeding from doing 90 m.p.h in a 65 m.p.h zone, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. The preseason game between these two teams starts at 7:00 PM EST at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte NC.

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