The Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers are two teams coming into this season with high expectations from their respective fan bases. Cam Newton lead his team to the playoffs last year paired with a stingy defense. And Sammy Watkins is being looked at as a savior for the struggling Buffalo franchise. Although it is only the preseason, and records do not matter, performances do. The preseason can tell you a lot about a player: Is he going to succeed this season? Has he made strides since last year? Is he set for regressions? Let’s take a look at some matchups to watch out for, as well as some quick-hitting stats.
Mario Williams vs the Panthers O-Line
In week two of last season, Super Mario just abused the Panthers line. He finished the game with a total of four and a half sacks. Most of the dismantling that Mario did was against Panthers tackle Byron Bell. The Panthers offensive line is one of many units that will need to show up this season for the Carolina squad. Bell is in the battle with Nate Chandler for the starting left tackle position, with the duties of protecting Newton’s blind-side. In the team’s first released depth chart, Bell was ahead of Chandler, but another poor showing against a talented Buffalo pass rush could change that. Williams was terrific for Buffalo last year, after a fairly disappointing first season in Western New York. In two combined seasons with the Bills, Mario has over 80 tackles and 23.5 sacks, a pretty healthy stat line for Buffalo’s 100 million dollar man.
Panthers’ Passing Attack vs Buffalo’s Secondary
In last seasons game, Newton was harassed in all facets of the game. The Bills defense sacked him six times, as well as registered nine quarterback hits. When Newton actually got to pass the ball, it wasn’t to pretty, either. Linebacker Kiko Alonso intercepted him once, and cornerback Leodis McKelvin had three pass deflections. Newton finished the game 21 of 38, for a measly 229 yards. His quarterback rating was 35, and his passer rating was 79.8, while not many people put stock into those numbers, they’re worth pointing out. It was one of Cam’s worst games of the season, and luckily for the Panthers, he didn’t have many of them. While it is unclear if he will play, there will still be things in the passing game that need to be evaluated.
We already went over the offensive line as a unit under the microscope, the second group is the wide receivers. The core guys are all gone, virtually everybody. Rookie Kelvin Benjamin was drafted in the first round, and is incredibly raw. This is his first professional game, and will be interesting to see how he plays. Many have categorized him as “raw”, and going up against the Bills physical corners is his first test in his career. Jason Avant and Jerricho Cotchery come over via free agency as well to round out the top of the depth chart. While neither are top flight receivers this point in this career, combined they maybe able to do damage. They are both very seasoned veterans, with solid route running ability. They are also very sure-handed, Avant having only six fumbles in his career, compared to Cotchery’s seven.If Carolina wants to get back to the playoffs, the receiving core has to step up in a big way.
The Bills lost Jairus Byrd in the offseason, that has been well documented. Byrd was a three-time Pro Bowler, you simply cannot throw some guy in there and expect to do what Byrd did. He was a ball-hawk, with 22 interceptions in his five seasons. But the Bills are well prepared on their back end with his departure. Stephon Gilmore is going into his third seasons, and he took major strides last year. He is an extremely physical corner, who batters and bruises wideouts at the line. Leodis McKelvin is coming off a career year. Bills fans had all but lost hope on the former first round pick, who had awful ball skills. Something clicked for the guy however, and he’s had 20 pass deflections last season. Which is pretty remarkable considering he had a combined 28 his first five seasons combined!
Nickell Robey had a crazy impressive rookie year as the slot corner, and Ron Brooks is making his case for more playing time as well. Aaron Williams signed a healthy four year deal this offseason worth a little over 26 million dollars and 14 million guaranteed. Neither McKelvin nor Gilmore played in the Hall of Fame Game, so this will be the first look we have at those guys this preseasons.
E.J. Manuel vs Panthers Secondary
How we got this far in a piece about the Buffalo Bills without mentioning Manuel is actually pretty remarkable. The kid has a lot of work to do, no question. But the Bills are going all in on this guy, and they’re giving him every chance to succeed. The whole giving up a first round pick to get Sammy Watkins, trading for Mike Williams, taking a chance on a tackle with knees made of glass in the second round.
Yeah, E.J. needs to step it up. And, luckily for him, this is the pretty good chance to put it all together. Last season, he lead the team down the field, and lofted a game-winning touchdown into the back of the endzone with two seconds left. Followed by the, “There’s your comeback! The E.J. Manuel era has begun, at Ralph Wilson Stadium!” call from Bills play by play man, John Murphy. Whether that was a blessing, or a curse we still do not know.
Manuel went a whopping 2-for-7 in his debut this season against the Giants, a less than inspiring performance. Surely the Bills coaches are looking for more from him this game. He needs to show improvement, any kind, he can take baby steps if he has to. But, E.J. needs to prove that he can get the job done. It’s not much to ask, really. He has the deepest backfield in the league, with the best one-two punch in Spiller and Jackson. He has a steady offensive line. Throw in a big red-zone target, and the best receiving prospect since Megatron, and he should be able to over-achieve.
The Panthers had solid play last season from their secondary, except against the Bills when Manuel threw all over them. They lost their key contributors from last season like Captain Munnerlyn and Drayton Florence. Coming in are,veterans like Antoine Cason, Roman Harper and Thomas DeCoud who should fill the voids. But, coach Ron Rivera has said that his defensive backs have so far shown, “Dirty eyes.” Meaning that they are getting caught looking in the backfield much to often, leaving themselves way out of position when the pass comes. We could see a heavy dose of play-action from the Bills offense if thats the case.