Bills adopt sense of urgency to prepare to welcome Panthers

ORCHARD PARK, NY

Dion Dawkins stepped in before the issue of the two-month inconsistency in the bills could be resolved.

Well aware of the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of the team in losing five of its last eight in a slide that knocked Buffalo down from the AFC East lead to seventh in the conference standings, the left tackle leaving underlined the urgency of the Bills (7-6) facing the preparation to host Carolina on Sunday.

“The time is right,” Dawkins said. “We understand that it’s time to strike this ticket. And we have our game faces. “

What took them so long, might be an appropriate question.

Dawkins is encouraged by the glimpses of dominance Buffalo has shown, starting with his most recent outing, a 33-27 overtime loss to Tampa Bay. He pointed to a second-half push in which the Bills overcame a 21-point deficit by generating a 302-yard offense and limiting the Buccaneers to 110 before missing in overtime.

“It’s a top-down battle for us to stay there, which is difficult,” Dawkins said. “But we see it, and we feel it. And we are hungry that there remains this factor “that”.

The Bills still have four weeks to prove they can be a candidate in their bid to advance to the playoffs for a third straight year.

The Panthers (5-8), by comparison, are still on the hunt for some semblance of identity – and health – in their second season under coach Matt Ruhle.

Carolina has won only twice in its last 10 games, and minus its main offensive threat, running back Christian McCaffrey (season-ending ankle injury), has a revolving door on an offensive line. which featured nine starting combinations and a quarterback carousel.

And in the occasions the Panthers find their offensive pace, they’ve been disappointed with a defense that has otherwise been the strength of the team in a mostly type of season that can go wrong.

“Either we turned the ball too much, or we missed the production of someone like Christian, or defensively we didn’t have our best game,” said Ruhle. “So we try to fix everything. “

Bills try to overcome their own challenges.

Already lacking its top defensive player, cornerback Tre’Davious White (season-ending knee injury), Buffalo could do without quarterback Josh Allen, who trained on a limited basis this week after s ‘being sprained on the left foot.

As long as he can get out on the field, Allen insists he can play.

“If I can go, I will go,” he said.

If he does play, the injury still has the potential to limit Allen’s mobility in a season in which his 531 rushing yards are more than a third of the team’s total.

ROTARY QUARTERS

Rhule should stick to his plan to use both quarterbacks Cam Newton and PJ Walker.

Newton will start, but look for Walker in situations where the Panthers need to rush to attack situations. Rhule does this because Walker is more familiar with offense when the pace of the game picks up, compared to Newton, who joined the team a month ago.

TRAINING LINKS

Bills coach Sean McDermott takes on his former team. He was the Panthers’ defensive coordinator from 2011 to 2016 before taking over at Buffalo.

“I am very grateful for this opportunity there and the relationships we have established,” said McDermott.

Ruhle fondly recalled his time in Buffalo, where he attended college for his masters degree, and also spent two years as an assistant at the University of Buffalo. He listed where he lived, his favorite restaurants and noted where he and his wife, Julie, were married.

Ruhle also recalled the times he attended training camp for the Bills, where he got advice from former defensive line coach John Levra.

CATASTROPHIC TURNOVER

Newton has returned the ball five times in the team’s last two losses, much to Rhule’s chagrin.

Rhule cursed Newton’s “catastrophic” turnovers after throwing a pick-6, then fumbled as he reached for a transfer after being tripped by his cross. Rhule said Newton should simply have eaten the ball and suffered defeat.

“I’m so disappointed in myself,” said Newton, who is 0-3 as a starter for the team this year and has lost his 11 starts with Carolina since 2018. I have him. done today, it’s just inexcusable.

THE RUSH OF REDDICK

Haason Reddick got off to a quick start this season with 9½ sacks in the first 10 games. But the NFC leader in Pro Bowl votes against the outside linebacker has only one in the past three weeks, with teams doing more to take out Reddick and defensive end Brian Burns.

They used a combination of game fakes, bringing the ball out faster and keeping extra blockers to protect the quarterback.

“It’s part of the game,” Reddick said. “If I allow myself to be frustrated with what’s going on in the game, it might persist, I might start having bad games, it might negatively affect my game, and I try to make sure it doesn’t. does not arrive. So I try to stay as calm as possible.

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AP Sports writer Steve Reed contributed.

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