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A win is a win: 5 reactions from the Panthers’ ugly 9-3 victory over the Bills

By Johnny Wakefield
David T. Foster III dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com

It wasn’t pretty, but the Carolina Panthers moved to 2-0 Sunday with a dominant defensive performance, three field goals, and a 9-3 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Each week in the 2017 season, CharlotteFive will take a quick look at five things from the game you’ll want to talk about in the office Monday morning. We’ll leave the play-by-play breakdowns and analysis to the pros at the Observer.

While the transplants and tourists in White, Red and Navy came out in droves, their team was unable to score any more than the 49ers did last week.

So the first of our five talking points should be obvious:

(1) DEEEEEE-FENSE

Let’s start point No. 1 with a post-game quote: “This is the best defense I have ever played on.” Who said that? Carolina hero Julius Peppers after his team kept the opposition without a touchdown for the second consecutive week.

In Peppers’ return to Bank of America Stadium, Luke Kuechly gave him the honor of being introduced last, leading to a special moment for the Hall of Fame defensive end.

And then he had a phenomenal game: six tackles and two sacks, leading the team in the latter. And the entire defense dominated the Bills, keeping them to 16 yards and 0 first downs in the first quarter and not allowing any points until the first minute of the fourth.

Tyrod Taylor barely broke 100 yards in the air. LeSean McCoy had NINE rushing yards on the day. The longest pass was 15 yards. Dominant.

(2) Missed opportunities

For all the good the defense has done, the offense … well … it’s struggled.

It is possible that the San Francisco and Buffalo defenses are simply good — the 49ers held the Seahawks to 12 points Sunday and the Bills held the Jets to 12 points last week. But missed opportunities was the theme of the day for Cam Newton and company.

Bob Leverone AP

Kelvin Benjamin nearly had a TD early on but got rocked in the end zone by Bills safety Jordan Poyer. Ed Dickson found himself open for a potential TD but was overthrown (again). And Cam missed a wide open Christian McCaffrey late in the fourth quarter for a TD that would have sealed the game.

Cam blamed himself after the game, but this is basically still preseason for him, right?

(3) Greg Olsen’s injury

We won’t want to, but we probably will be talking about this today: TE Greg Olsen is going to miss some time.

Having started every game since coming to Charlotte in 2011, the tight end won’t be playing next week after breaking his foot running down the field in the first half. Early reports were that he’d return, but he came back to the sideline in the third quarter with a boot on his right foot and his day was clearly done.

This sucks. Olsen’s an all-around good guy on and off the field, and he’s a huge part of the Panthers’ offense, often providing a safety blanket for Cam.

Ed Dickson is technically the backup, though he plays plenty already. We’ll see even more of him against the Saints — and for an estimated six to eight weeks after that.

(4) Graham Gano!

Alright, I know no one’s talking about Graham Gano today. Kickers get no respect. But the man who nearly lost his job in the preseason has accounted for 18 of the Panthers’ 32 points on the season, including all of the scoring yesterday.

Good for him. I, for one, am glad to see the “Graham Cracker” putting them through the uprights again this year.

(5) That last drive, that last miss

Friends and I were paranoid throughout the game as the Panthers missed chance after chance to put the ball in the end zone. When Gano kicked his third FG with 2:35 remaining, that paranoia hit its zenith: A 9-3 lead meant that a Bills touchdown drive would give them a 10-9 win.

The Panthers were going to lose. We just knew it.

A late offensive pass interference penalty slowed the Bills’ momentum on that final drive. But on 4th down and 11 at the Panthers’ 33, Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor found Zay Jones wide open, running towards the end zone, and …

Mike McCarn AP

BREATHE.

The Panthers took over on downs and held on to win 9-3.

Praise Graham.

Photos: David T. Foster III; AP Photo/Bob Leverone; AP Photo/Mike McCarn

This story was originally published September 17, 2017 at 11:55 PM with the headline "A win is a win: 5 reactions from the Panthers’ ugly 9-3 victory over the Bills."

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