Oct 26, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson (2) runs on to the field before the game at Bank of America Stadium. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Carolina Panthers assistant gets blunt on what happened against the Buffalo Bills

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Oct 31, 2025 6:30 AM ET

The Carolina Panthers could have had a four-game win streak going into this weekend's matchup with the Green Bay Packers if they had taken care of business on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

Instead, they got blasted in their first home loss of the season by a score of 40-9, getting utterly dominated on offense, defense and special teams.

There was plenty of ugliness to go around, including a heinous game at quarterback from Andy Dalton, another totally toothless pass rush performance and more of the bizarre split at running back between Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard.

The worst of it was Carolina's run defense taking a major step back. After three straight very strong games in this department they got destroyed by the Bills on the ground, epecially by James Cook - who racked up 216 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 19 carries (11.4 yards per carry). That included an insane 141 yards before contact.

Asked on Thursday what happened, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero did not mince words.

#Panthers DC Ejiro Evero on #Bills James Cook's 141 yards before initial contact: We didn't do a good enough job coaching or playing.
— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) October 30, 2025

Sums it up pretty well.

The unfortunate truth is that the Panthers had a run against a few teams who have been mostly poorly coached this season, including Dallas, Miami and the Jets.

Sean McDermott is on another level - and the difference between him and the competition that head coach Dave Canales had been matching up against was apparent very early and all the way through the end of the game.

It also helped that those teams all struggle against the run - which is what the Panthers do best - at least when they're giving the ball to Dowdle like they should.

If Carolina had force-fed No. 5 from the start the end result may not have been any different, but they at least would have had a better chance if they'd taken full advantage of a poor Buffalo run defense.

Canales has seemingly since changed his mind and appears to be ready to give Dowdle a bigger share of the load - but we may look back on this loss as one that turned the Panthers' season around in the wrong way.

This article first appeared on Carolina Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: