MITCH HORUCY
Sports Editor
After a shaky couple of weeks, the Bills are back in the win column with a victory over the growing Carolina Panthers team.
While there were things to be concerned about after the two-game skid, like I said in my last column, it’s not the end of the world.
Dating back to the 2020 season, the Bills lost back-to-back games in every season.
It has happened in the past, and each year the team has figured it out to some degree, resulting in a divisional round appearance in each of the past five seasons.
This year’s bounceback performance was a 40-9 win by the Bills that never felt close.
James Cook ran for 216 yards on 19 carries, the most in a game by a Bill since Thurman Thomas in 1990.
Josh Allen had a quiet day at the office, only totaling 170 total yards but having three touchdowns.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady might’ve heard some of the outside noise as he fed the ball to Cook. It worked.
The defense also had a great game, though Bryce Young was inactive for the Panthers due to an ankle injury.
They forced three turnovers, a great sign after only having forced five all season coming into this game.
They also had seven sacks in the win, having more than half of the teams’ sack total entering this game (12).
Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi each made their Bills debut after serving a suspension and looked good.
Ogunjobi won’t light up the box score, but will be a nice backup, or potential starter with Ed Oliver leaving the game with injury.
Hoecht, whom I was very excited to watch, made his presence felt in this game and will be a big piece of the defensive line going forward.
Finishing with three tackles, including 1.5 sacks, he was in the backfield all game.
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich was creative in the way he used Hoecht as well.
He was lined up as a traditional edge rusher numerous times, but he also had plays where he lined up standing over the center and guard.
It’ll be interesting to see how he’s used going forward.
First round pick Maxwell Hairston also made his Bills and NFL debut, looking good in it.
He only played 27 snaps, with Tre’Davious White getting most of the work opposite of Christian Benford.
His name wasn’t called much, which is a good thing for a cornerback.
With a huge game against the Chiefs coming up, I doubt he becomes a full-time starter by next week, but he will by the end of the season.
Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025. Image property of the Buffalo Bills.
It was a must-win game in order to get the team back on track, and they took care of business.
Without getting into the Falcons game too much, it was a bad loss that perfectly showcased what the team is missing.
In the first half, it was the defense, which couldn’t stop as much as a nosebleed.
I will give the defense the benefit of the doubt, as Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is an all-world talent and has solidified himself as a top-five back.
However, the defense figured it out after giving up a touchdown on three of the first four Atlanta drives.
Now, the team got a little lucky at the end of the half, being about six inches away from giving up a long, backbreaking touchdown to Drake London.
But they got six straight stops for the team, including a blocked field goal that kept the Bills in the game.
In the team’s nine offensive drives, they came away with points on just two of those drives.
They had opportunities to score and couldn’t make a play against a solid, but not great, Falcons defense.
Their top problems came to life on this side of the ball as well, with the biggest being a lack of separation from wideouts.
According to reports from both the Tennessee Titans and the New Orleans Saints, they’re willing to move players; Calvin Ridley, Rashid Shaheed or Chris Olave would do wonders for this offense.
Another guy I wanted to talk about is Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn.
During the 2024 offseason, I wrote a column focusing on free agent targets for the Bills; Chinn was one of the names brought up.
He has a fairly cheap contract and wouldn’t cost the Bills much.
For the Raiders, the Geno Smith era is off to a nightmare start and would likely take a fifth-round pick for a guy who isn’t in their long-term plans, which is basically everyone except for Maxx Crosby and Ashton Jeanty at this point.
He’s a big safety who can play both in the box and on the backend in coverage.
He’d be an upgrade on Taylor Rapp, who’s had a very disappointing 2025 season thus far.
If Chinn or another safety isn’t the plan, I’d love to see Jordan Hancock get an opportunity at the position.
The team’s fifth-round pick from this past draft hasn’t played much defense since the regular season started.
He played 16 snaps on defense against the Panthers, but I’d like that number to increase.
He had 11 tackles in two games played in the preseason, playing 91 snaps in those two games.
I wrote about my excitement for him in my post-draft column, and my excitement is still there.
At Ohio State, he played a lot of football, playing primarily slot corner.
However, he played over 400 snaps at safety, meaning he knows the position, especially on a championship defense at Ohio State.
He looked solid in preseason, is a solid athlete and with Taylor Rapp being placed on injured reserve, I’d love to see an extended look at him at safety.
Entering the toughest stretch of their schedule, we’ll find out a lot about what this Bills team is really about.