Top 3 Things We Learned

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Top 3 things we learned from Bills vs. Panthers

Oct 26, 2025 at 07:20 PM

Alec White

Content Manager

The Buffalo Bills (5-2) snapped their two-game slide with a dominant 40-9 win over the Carolina Panthers (4-4).

Here's what we learned.

1 — A get right game for Buffalo

If there's one thing you can count on, it's the Bills righting the ship after a week off. Buffalo improved to 9-0 under Sean McDermott after the bye with their road win over the Panthers.

Buffalo's 40 points scored is the most coming out of the bye in the McDermott era and their 9 points allowed is the fewest in that span.

"I really thought the players and staff did a phenomenal job starting on Monday," McDermott said. "The process is the process and the preparation piece had to be where it needed to be. And the players did a phenomenal job."

The Panthers had the making of a team capable of upsetting the reigning AFC East champions, having the third-best rushing offense and allowing less than 300 yards per game on defense. But the Bills put to rest any notion of a third-straight loss with a complete effort in all phases.

The 31-point win was aided by a string of four consecutive touchdown drives by the Bills, two in the second quarter and two in the third quarter, including Khalil Shakir's 54-yard catch and run on the opening drive of the second half.

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"Coming off two losses, it's been lingering with us," QB Josh Allen said. "So wanting to come out here and put our best foot forward and I think tonight we did that."

During the stretch of scoring drives, the Bills defense gave the offense advantageous field position with two takeaways, an interception by A.J. Epenesa and a fumble recovery by DT Deone Walker.

Buffalo out-gained Carolina 410-244, the most yards the team has gained since Week 1 and the fewest surrendered since Week 2.

2 — The numbers behind James Cook's historic game

Bills running back James Cook III was a one-man wrecking machine every time he touched the ball Sunday, toting the rock 19 times for a career-high 216 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The total yardage in itself is a staggering feat, but a deeper dive into how Cook got there is worth highlighting.

10 of Cook's 19 runs resulted in either a first down or a touchdown, including a 64-yard TD run in the first half that was one yard shy of tying his career-high for a single rush. In the two prior games, Cook had eight first down rushes on 32 attempts.

Cook is just the third player since 2011 to rush for 200+ yards and two touchdowns on less than 20 rush attempts, joining De'Von Achane (2023) and Derrick Henry (2018). With Sunday's dominant win, the Bills improved to 9-1 since 2022 when Cook rushes for over 100 yards.

"He's playing outstanding. The more times we get the ball in his hands, the better that we're going to be," Josh Allen said.

Cook gashed the Panthers outside the numbers through a variation of pitches, cutbacks and zone runs. According to Next Gen Stats, Cook gained 189 of his rushing yards outside the tackles and 141 before contact.

“When you got James Cook, just let him cook.” 😏#GoBills | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/Ea0QpzOIqk
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 26, 2025

His 153 yards rushing in 1st half are most by any player in a first half since his brother Dalvin Cook had 153 vs Steelers on Dec. 9, 2021.

The running back said part of the game plan today included getting him to the edges to utilize his explosiveness.

"We had a lot of schemes in the plan today. That's just what worked today and we took advantage," Cook said.

Cook's record-setting day got started on the opening drive of the game as he touched the ball four times for 38 yards to help get the Bills into field goal range for a 3-0 lead. He went on to end the first quarter with 79 rushing yards, the most of his career.

"I know the value of being a two-dimensional offense. I love the run game," McDermott said. "I do value physical football and it starts up front, whether you're throwing it or you're running it… And our front did a great job today."

Cook praised his offensive line for their physical, downhill attack as the Bills ran for 245 yards and four touchdowns.

"I trust the guys that are behind me. We all work together," Cook said.

Allen garnered two rushing touchdowns of his own, surpassing former Panthers QB Cam Newton for the most games all-time with at least one passing and one rushing touchdown (46).

Additionally, Allen and Cook became just the second QB/RB duo all-time to each record two or more rushing scores in a game.

3 — Bills DEs wreck havoc

The Bills defensive line as a whole was impressive against the Panthers, as seven different players recorded at least half a sack. The last time that happened was in 2021 against the Jets.

The names on that defensive line were vastly different than the ones on the field in Carolina and it was a welcome sight for a defense that had put up some rocky performances this season.

"That's where it starts, up front," McDermott said.

Buffalo's defensive ends were particularly fun to watch in this one, with Joey Bosa, Michael Hoecht, A.J. Epenesa and Greg Rousseau all recorded at least one sack.

Rousseau turned the tide early to stop a potential Panthers scoring drive in the first quarter with a punch out of QB Andy Dalton and a recovery by CB Christian Benford. Bosa notched his first sack since Week 4 with a takedown of Dalton in the second quarter.

Buffalo got a boost defensively with the activation of Hoecht and DT Larry Ogunjobi; their presence was immediately felt in the lineup.

In his debut with the Bills, Hoecht registered 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL.

"Hoecht was a tone setter for us. It was good to have him. He's a leader in his own way. He understands how the game is played. A guy we can add up front and he made a difference," McDermott said.

Meanwhile, Epenesa became the fourth Bills defensive end all-time to record his third career INT and it came in an unrepeatable fashion with the veteran batting the ball at the line of scrimmage, then kicking it back up to himself and using two hands to haul in the takeaway. He shared postgame that pre-snap recognition gave him a tell on what the play was.

Utterly WILD interception by AJ Epenesa 😂 pic.twitter.com/ksLXQ8vfsh
— NFL UK & Ireland (@NFLUKIRE) October 26, 2025

"It's a very unique key that I got from the offensive lineman. He kind of pass sets and then he takes off running. They don't really ever do that, except on the screen," Epenesa said. "We've repped that so many times, I would like to think it's become second nature now."

Epenesa has had a knack for snuffing out screens during his Bills career. His last interception came on an similar play against the Chiefs in 2023.

It's fitting as that's who's next in line for the Bills with another epic showdown set for next week at Highmark Stadium.