by&

CHARLOTTE A look inside the numbers and snap counts from Sunday's 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

• The Panthers continued their streak of not allowing an opposing offensive touchdown in the first quarter. There has not been an opponent first quarter touchdown in any of the eight games this season.
• Rookie wideoutTetairoa McMillanjust missed his second career 100-yard game, finishing with seven catches for 99 yards.
• Running backRico Dowdleled the team with 54 rushing yards on eight carries (6.8 avg.), his fourth-consecutive game with 50-plus rushing yards, tied for the longest streak of consecutive 50-yard rushing games in his career (Weeks 12-15, 2024, with Dallas).
• Running backChuba Hubbardrecorded his first rushing touchdown of the season with 10:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.
• Hubbard's 23 career rushing touchdowns are the fifth-most in franchise history.

• The Panthers defense collected 2.0 sacks for losses totaling 20 yards. Both sacks came on crucial early third downs, forcing field goals.
• LinebackerTrevin Wallacenotched his first sack of the season, dropping Bills quarterback Josh Allen for a 4-yard loss in the first quarter.
• LBNic Scourtonand defensive endA'Shawn Robinsonshared a 16-yard sack of Allen in the second quarter.
• Through eight games, the Panthers have gathered 13.0 sacks.

• LBChristian Rozeboomled the team with 12 tackles and two for loss. The tackle total tied a career-high for Rozeboom; his seventh-career game with at least 10 tackles.
• CornerMike Jacksonled the team with two passes defensed, his sixth game this season with a pass defense and second-consecutive game with multiple PBUs.
• SafetyNick Scotttallied a season-high eight tackles (five solo).

• Bills running back James Cook set a record for the most rushing yards in a game by an opponent with 216 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. This bettered the previous record of 215 yards by Derrick Ward at the New York Giants (Dec. 21, 2008).
• Panthers allowed four rushing touchdowns. This equaled the fourth most rushing touchdowns allowed in team history, previously accomplished at St. Louis (Nov. 11, 2001). The team record for the most rushing touchdowns allowed is five, previously accomplished three times most recently at Cincinnati (Nov. 6, 2022).
• The Panthers did not force any turnovers and turned the ball over three times on one interception and two fumbles to finish with a minus-3 takeaway/giveaway ratio.
• The three giveaways led to 17 points for Buffalo.
• Through eight games, the Panthers have a negative-5 turnover ratio and are 2-0 when positive in turnover margin, 0-1 when even in turnover margin and 2-3 when negative in turnover margin.

Snap Counts

Take a look at the snap counts and playtime percentage for the Panthers in Week 8 of the regular season against the Bills.

• For starters, only having three starters play all 61 snaps is a major problem. Usually, the offensive linemen all will, but only two of them didDamien LewisandIkem Ekwonu. Injuries forced the other three starters out, and all three active reserve linemen played on offense.Brady Christensenis expected to be out for the season with a torn Achilles and they're awaiting tests onTaylor MotonandCade Mays.
• Tight endJa'Tavion Sandersis back up to his normal starter reps, playing over half the snaps (54 percent) after easing into it his first game back last week (when he played 37 percent). That meant rookieMitchell Evanswas down to 26 percent, though he might have been close to becoming an offensive lineman as the game wore on.
• Wide receiverJalen Cokeris also moving back toward a normal number of snaps (66 percent) in his second week back, after getting 37 percent of them last week.

• Tershawn Whartonalso continued that trend on defense, playing a line-high 49 snaps, more thanDerrick Brown(44). It was his second week back from a toe injury.

• There was some deck-clearing late, with backup cornersCorey ThorntonandAkayleb Evansgetting work on defense, andMike JacksonandJaycee Horngetting a rare few snaps off. Special teams standoutClaudin Cherelusgot his first defensive work of the year after the injury toTrevin Wallace(evaluated for a concussion but cleared).

• The biggest sign things didn't go well Sunday is the sheer lack of names in the special teams column. When the injuries hit, the guys who are normally running down or blocking for kicks had to play offense and defense.
• Sanders played a healthy special teams role as well, playing 54 percent of the snaps, joining offensive regularBrycen Tremayne(64 percent), along with Cherelus (71 percent), andLathan Ransom(75 percent) on defense, as having to play a heavy load in the kicking game.