The health notes piled up fast on both sides. Buffalo's newly acquired receiver DJ Moore came off the field grabbing his ankle during the game, a scary moment for an offense that just added him via trade. Carolina, meanwhile, was already down its best interior defender in Derrick Brown, who sat out entirely with a knee issue, while Tershawn Wharton still has no firm timeline on his own neck injury.
None of that stopped Buffalo from pulling away. Tyler Bass hit three field goals, Ian Wheeler and Frank Gore Jr. each punched in short rushing touchdowns, and the Bills built a lead that Carolina's John Metchie III touchdown catch in the fourth quarter never seriously threatened. It's preseason, so a final score only means so much — but Buffalo controlled just about every phase of it.
Buffalo enters the year having gone 3-2 in its last 5 games a season ago before dropping the finale, while Carolina limped out of last season on a 3-game skid before rebounding to open this preseason with a win over Arizona in the Hall of Fame Game. Neither record means much in August, but both rosters used these snaps to answer real questions — Buffalo's receiver depth behind Moore and Khalil Shakir, Carolina's picture at quarterback and along the interior line.
Carolina's wide receiver room — Xavier Legette, Elijah Cooks, Roc Taylor, John Metchie III — still has two more preseason games to sort itself out, and the interior of that defensive line needs bodies back healthy before Week 1 gets serious. For Buffalo, the mission was staying upright and building rhythm in front of the home crowd at a brand-new building — mission mostly accomplished, minus the Moore scare.