Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills got the chance to rest up last week, while also reflecting on the pair of losses they took with them into their Week 7 bye.
Following a 24-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6 on "Monday Night Football", the Bills needed to hit a bit of a reset on both sides of the football. While the defense was putrid in the first half and rebounded in the second half against the Falcons, the offense sputtered throughout the night, and could not capitalize on the chances the defense provided for them.
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In the Sean McDermott era of Bills football, the team has been a perfect 8-0 coming out of the bye week. However, the team has never entered a bye week riding a multi-game losing skid such as this year's iteration.
Buffalo will have its hands full come Sunday afternoon, as they head to Carolina to face the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
The Panthers are riding a bit of a hot streak, winners of three-straight games and sitting at 4-3 in the NFC South. Carolina is actually sitting second in the division through the first seven weeks, and have not been above the .500 mark at this point of the season since the 2019 season.
Where the Panthers have been lethal over the last three weeks is the explosion of their run game, led by Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle. While Hubbard has dealt with some injuries through the early portion of the season, Dowdle is currently third in league rushing with 551 yards, and leads the league among running backs in yards per-carry with, at least, 50 carries.
As a team, the Panthers are third overall in yards per-game at 141.1, only behind the Washington Commanders (148.9 yards per-game) and the Bills (151.0 yards per-game).
Where the Panthers may be shorthanded is under center, with starter Bryce Young likely not playing this Sunday afternoon due to a high ankle sprain. That means 15-year veteran Andy Dalton is slated to get the start for Carolina at quarterback.
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With the two-game skid and how the rest of the NFL has played over the last few weeks, Howard Simon has not been as confident about this team as in weeks past.
In his first "Howard Picks the Bills" since before the Falcons game, Howard remains assured the Bills can win coming out of the bye week against the Panthers.
From there, though, Howard sees the Bills riding a bit of a rough patch of games with losses in 3-of-4 contests to the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Texans on "Thursday Night Football".
Despite the slump, though, Howard does see the Bills bounce back with wins in five of the final six games in order to finish 11-6. The only loss, though, in that stretch is another defeat at the hands of the Patriots, meaning it's all but likely Buffalo will not finish the year with a sixth-straight division title.
The next question that comes to mind, then, is whether an 11-6 record is even enough for the Bills to clinch a playoff spot as a Wild Card team in the AFC standings.
Be sure to follow along on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest picks from Howard by using the hashtag #HowardPicksTheBills. You can also track all of Howard's picks throughout the season with Brayton Wilson's picks tracker on X: @BraytonJWilson.
You can listen to, as well as watch the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" below: