Carolina Panthers Host Buffalo Bills in NFL Preseason Action

Interesting matchup in Friday NFL preseason play as the Carolina Panthers host the Buffalo Bills at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. The Bills look to be a team on the rise under Sean McDermott–who by the way is the former defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers–while this is a crucial year for the Panthers and head coach Ron Rivera. He didn’t really take the rap for the team’s substandard performance last season due to injuries but if his key players stay healthy it’ll be on him if the Panthers underachieve this year.

One of the things that NFL preseason handicappers like to look for is coaching tendencies. The thinking is that certain coaches like Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh go out and try to win preseason games while other coaches like the Atlanta Falcons’ Dan Quinn don’t care about the outcome. The second half of this dynamic could be true with coaches like Quinn more interested in evaluating personnel and making sure his players properly assimilate schemes. That being said, I’m not sure that coaches like Belichick and Harbaugh go out ‘trying to win’ preseason games per se. More likely, they just focus on proper execution from the start and the end result is that they perform better in exhibition contests than other teams.

Sean McDermott might soon be known as a ‘play on’ head coach in NFL preseason play. His team outplayed the Indianapolis Colts last week in the preseason opener for both teams and the defense looks particularly strong. Indianapolis head coach Frank Reich had wanted to make the rushing game a priority but the Bills simply shut them down. On the other side of the ball, the Bills’ offense put up a solid 163 yards on the ground. McDermott will clearly be familiar with the Panthers training camp environment with his experience there. Furthermore, there are a number of former Panthers on the Buffalo roster.

Rookie Tyree Jackson struggled in his first preseason NFL action but should get better. You might see more of starter Josh Allen than in a typical preseason situation and Allen’s backup Matt Barkley is a very capable #2. Buffalo showed nice pass protection last week against Indianapolis and that gives their quarterbacks time to make plays. Carolina’s Cam Newton is expected to play tonight though it’s unknown how long he’ll be in. It’s doubtful he’ll be around very long and particularly with a spirited battle underway between Will Grier and Kyle Allen for the backup spot.

Buffalo and McDermott will likely be undervalued until well into the regular season. Getting 2.5 points on the NFL betting odds board makes them an easy team to pull the trigger on here. Bills win outright.

BET BUFFALO BILLS +2.5 OVER CAROLINA PANTHERS

Get the latest NFL football odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter!