By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Bills took on the Carolina Panthers in the team’s second preseason game of 2019 on Friday and don’t forget to remind yourself of one thing.
It’s only preseason and yes, they won 27-14.
Buffalo looked impressive all over the field. Offensively, defensively, well… not really special teams thanks to a Stephen Hauschka missed kick. Guess they can’t be perfect.
But with that, here’s five takeaways from the Bills win over the Panthers:
Josh Allen update
Easy to see, Josh Allen looked pretty good against the Panthers and there were few mistakes. The second-year quarterback was 9-for-11 passing for 102 yards. Of those two misses, Allen had a potential drop from LeSean McCoy and a throwaway. Regardless, even if that doesn’t go down as a drop, that’s an excellent stat line.
Allen put the ball where it needed to be on intermediate passes, something he does not always do, and also showed some touch on a nice fade route to Tommy Sweeney. The rookie tight end also appears to be building a rapport with the QB, as he had two big catches, including another up the seam from Allen which set up Shady’s touchdown run on the goal line two plays later.
Wojton tweeted: Josh Allen makes the quick read here in the seam, #Bills get another grab from Tommy Sweeney. Shady scores two plays later. All-in-all, a good series there for BUF
Defense dominates
Buffalo’s starting defense looked nothing short of spectacular, and they should have. The Panthers didn’t play a few starters on both sides of the ball and the highlight was quarterback Cam Newton. Last week the Colts didn’t start Andrew Luck against the Bills, either.
Having said that, Buffalo’s defense was then supposed to crush their weaker opponent and credit where credit is due, they did. Quarterback Kyle Allen was 4-for-11 passes for 32 yards as Buffalo’s secondary cruised.
Of highlighted plays, Trent Murphy had a fourth-down sack to turn the ball over on downs. His spin move was top-notch. Levi Wallace went stride-for-stride with Curtis Samuel on a pass on play prior to that. Samuel and Newton beat Tre’Davious White a few times during the joint practices the two sides had this week. So that’s impressive from Wallace.
Once again, an opponent key’d in on double-teaming rookie Ed Oliver in the middle. The Colts did that last week, but this week Oliver still made a nice play on one occasion as he recognized it and jumped up to swat a pass.
Short-routes at a premium
The Bills aren’t shying away from what everyone’s been saying about their offense. Cole Beasley will be a big part, but so will all the shorter balls. As mentioned, Allen connected on plenty of passes and more than half went to Beasley, who had five catches for 44 yards. Beasley is showing he’s still able to successfully get open inside consistently.
While Beasley might be the top benefactor here, the running backs are still getting plenty of targets out of the backfield as well. On the day, Devin Singletary had running back-high three catches for 38 yards while McCoy added another two.
Along with Beasley and the prior mentioned Sweeney, Isaiah McKenzie also caught a short-range screen pass and took it downfield for 37 yards. Duke Williams shined with his size. He made three catches for 38 yards on four targets. One was a touchdown where he high-pointed the ball in the corner on a pass from Matt Barkley. The DB had no chance.
KJ is a relief
The Bills not want, but need, Kevin Johnson to be healthy. He’s played well almost all offseason and that turned into a huge pick-six interception. Backup quarterback Will Grier telegraphed a pass and Johnson made a 71-yard touchdown return look very easy.
Regardless if he surpasses Wallace as the No. 2 cornerback or not, having that is big for the Bills. The Bills have battled issues in this area in recent seasons. EJ Gaines was disappointingly hurt early this year, so that just makes Johnson working out feel even better.
One knock
If there were one knock on the Bills for their performance, it was still a few stupid penalties. On one, Shaq Lawson (who played with the second-team defense behind Murphy) took a silly penalty. He caused a flag to be thrown by making contact with the quarterback late and near his head. It was pretty uncalled for and didn’t make much sense. In some cases, it’s hard to slow down, but Lawson appeared to have time to do so.
In addition, the worst penalty undoubtedly came from Mike Love. The pass rusher was on for a field goal block and clear as day used an offensive lineman for leverage, causing a 15-yard penalty. Those types of penalties are inexcusable. Sean McDermott has to clean that up and despite his process preaching, his team hasn’t always been disciplined on the field.