Bills vs. Panthers Prediction: Buffalo in Prime Spot to Cover in Preseason Finale
By Peter Dewey
The Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers have differing expectations entering the 2022 season, but the preseason is a whole different beast.
After playing his starters in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, Bills head coach Sean McDermott is opting to rest them in this final preseason game, while Matt Rhule and the Panthers have a bit of a different strategy.
The Bills aren't playing their starters Friday night, but Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said the plan is to play Baker Mayfield and the ones into the second quarter.
— Darin Gantt (@daringantt) August 24, 2022
Baker Mayfield has already won the Panthers’ starting job, but he’s going to get plenty of run and will likely be relieved by competent passers in Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker. That being said, the Bills are 2-0 in the preseason and have put up points in bunches.
Here’s a look at the odds from WynnBET for Week 3 of the preseason:
Bills vs. Panthers Odds, Spread and Total
Bills vs. Panthers Odds, Spread and Total Movement in NFL Preseason Week 3
There hasn’t been any movement in this game on the spread, but the total has climbed to 40 after opening at 38 earlier this week.
With Buffalo resting its starters and the Panthers looking to get a long look at Baker Mayfield, it makes sense that the total has risen a bit.
Bills vs. Panthers Prediction and Best Bet
Earlier this week, our guy Joe Summers predicted that the Bills would cover and potentially pull off the upset, and I agree with him to a certain degree.
Carolina scored just 10 points last week with Walker and Matt Corral handling the quarterback duties, but things could look a lot different if Mayfield is playing multiple series against the Bills’ backups.
Still, six points seems like a whole lot, especially considering the depth on the Bills roster. Case Keenum is no slouch as a backup quarterback, and Buffalo scored 27 points in Week 1 of the preseason without the starters.
The Panthers have just 33 total points in the preseason, and I don’t believe in this offense, no matter who is at quarterback, to light things up in a preseason game.
I’ll back Buffalo to keep this thing close, especially with the volatility of the NFL preseason.