Panthers vs Bills Prediction, Picks, Odds for Saturday’s NFL Preseason Game

The Carolina Panthers will visit the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff from Orchard Park is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on NFL Network. The public might simply be going by name recognition, as the majority of tickets and money are currently backing the Bills to cover the spread against the Panthers.

We know better than to rely on name value when it comes to the preseason, though, which is why I’m happily joining the sharps and big money in backing Carolina covering as favorites. Let’s preview the game and dive into my Panthers vs. Bills predictions for Saturday.

• Panthers vs Bills Pick: Panthers -4.5
  • Click here to bet the Panthers to cover the spread instantly at FanDuel with QuickSlip! The bet is automatically added to your bet slip at FanDuel!

My Panthers-Bills pick is Carolina to cover the spread (-4.5), with the best line available at DraftKings, according to our live NFL odds page.

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• Panthers vs Bills point spread: Panthers -4.5 | Bills +4.5
• Panthers vs Bills total: Over/under 30.5
• Panthers vs Bills moneylines: Panthers -198 | Bills +164

The spread opened at Panthers -4.5 and hasn’t seen much movement since. The total has fallen a couple of points from 34.5 to 30.5.

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The Panthers desperately need to see Bryce Young take a step forward. Actually, not just a step forward but a massive step forward. He completed only 59% of his passes for ,877 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a 33.4 QBR that ranked 29th in the league. Not surprisingly, Carolina had the worst passing offense by far according to DVOA (-27.3%).

The Panthers cleaned house this offseason, hiring renowned QB whisperer Dave Canales as head coach. We don’t know how much progress has been made yet, as they still haven’t unleashed Young in preseason play.  They will this week, though, as the team’s starters are finally set to see their first action in the third and final game.

Why wait so long?

Canales told the media it’s because he wanted to wait until they had a full “grasp of the system.” Well, it sounds like they are ready now.

Meanwhile, there’s not much that really needs to be said about a Buffalo Bills team that’s a far cry from what we’ll see come the regular season. They are hardly even a shell of their usual squad. Several key Bills reserves have suffered injuries, meaning the majority of those suiting up are third, fourth and fifth stringers

The team’s QB play might be the biggest warning sign in backing them. Mitch Trubisky is out for a few weeks with a knee injury, while Shane Buechele suffered a neck injury that landed him on IR. The latter forced Buffalo to sign Ben DeNucci last week, and then make a similar move on Wednesday, adding former Baltimore Raven Anthony Brown Jr. That means Buffalo will be led by a pair of passers who have been on the team for a combined 18 days.

Panthers vs Bills will be broadcasted live on NFL Network, as well as local television coverage. Panthers-Bills is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

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Canales’ comments about holding his starters back until they fully grasped the system and were ready to execute seemed like pretty bold statements in my book. He believes we’re not seeing a team trying to work out the kinks. Instead, he’s saying we’ll see one who is ready to execute at a proper level.

Compare that to the Bills trotting out a bunch of players who will be filing for unemployment next week, and I’m rolling with the Panthers to cover the spread in this spot.

Panthers vs Bills Pick: Panthers -4.5 (-110)

• 77% of bets and 52% of the money are on the Bills to cover the spread.
• 60% of bets and 51% of the money are on the under.

All data via Action Network’s public betting percentages.

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