Panthers drop in NFL power rankings after 31-point defeat vs. Bills

Heading into Sunday's home game against the Buffalo Bills, the Carolina Panthers were relatively healthy, had won three straight games and had yet to get beaten at Bank of America Stadium this season.

All of that went right out the window in their 40-9 loss to Buffalo, which the Bills dominated from the opening kickoff until the final whistle. The Panthers got an atrocious performance at quarterback from Andy Dalton, they continued their ridiculous running back share, and got blasted on the ground by Buffalo's rushing attack.

Even worse, they lost their most versatile offensive lineman for the season and had several other key players get dinged up, as well. As you'd expect, the Panthers have dropped in the latest power rankings from Sportsnaut - but they're only down one spot from last week, now at No. 21.

"The only path to victory for the Carolina Panthers in Week 8 was stopping the run and getting a big game from Rico Dowdle. James Cook put up 200 rushing yards in three quarters, and Carolina found itself down three scores quickly. Sunday was a game that put the Panthers back in their place as a league-average team that can win when things are going right. That doesn’t bode well for a Week 9 matchup at Lambeau Field."

You can make a strong case that Carolina probably should have fallen a few more spots, but very few folks thought this would be an upset in the first place. At 4-4, the Panthers are still in better shape than most of the teams that are ranked below them - including the Falcons (-5), who lost a humiliating game to the Dolphins.

Odds are they're in for another humiliating reminder that they're still far removed from the NFL's true contenders this week. The Packers are an even more complete team than the Bills and don't have any glaring weaknesses like Buffalo's run defense that can be exploited.

An upset in Green Bay would go a long way towards proving the critics wrong, but that seems like a very distant possibility right now.