WHAT they’re SAYING in CAROLINA: BILLS at PANTHERS preview with Tim Donnelly

WHAT they’re SAYING in CAROLINA: BILLS at PANTHERS preview with Tim Donnelly

The Panthers have tried so hard to modernize everything, right? They went the two straight first round draft pick wide receivers, the number one overall draft pick quarterback, the wonderkin young offensive mind. But no matter what happens, the Panthers will always come down to like if they don’t get 30 good offensive rushes a game and play good defense. Like it’s that’s just what it’s in their DNA. They’re going to end up together with ground and pound football. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel. Uh, welcome back. Please make sure to like, comment, and subscribe. We have a special guest with us for this week in the what they’re saying category as we look ahead to the Bills next game against the Carolina Panthers. So, what they’re saying in Carolina with Tim Donnelly. He is with 999 the drive down south and uh we’re going to talk to him a little bit about it. Tim, welcome to Buffalo Plus. Thank you very much. Happy to be here. Big game. Didn’t think I’d be saying that at the beginning of the year. So I’m excited to talk about it. That’s the first thing I want to talk to you about because when you look at the results and we’ve been looking at the division because the Bills already had played the Saints, they got the Bucks later. Like an idea of what’s going on down there and you’re trying to follow what’s going on with Carolina. They just Bills just lost down in Atlanta. And you look at this, you’re like, “All right, a little bit of a rough start.” Tell me what happened in the Falcons game. 30 to nothing. Now, Bills fans saw the Falcons maybe at their best, especially in that first half. How did Carolina do that? And was that version of the team? What’s led to this streak and how they’ve played much better there? There’s first of all, the the Falcons game feels like a fever dream. Even like the the the Panthers are on this little winning streak and it’s and it’s nice, but that game was was different, right? I I mean, I’d be lying if I said I expected this from the Panthers. After that game on Monday, I was saying the best thing the Panthers did was get out of the way and let the Falcons give it to them. Uh like, and I’m not disrespecting the Falcons. They’ve improved a bunch, but in that game, it was much more about the way the Falcons were playing than about about the Panthers. Since then, the Panthers have built a little identity running the football. Rico Doubtles had this explosion. But in that game, it was fairly obvious fairly early that the the Falcons had had nothing and the Panthers were just going to sit there and, you know, almost cherrypick, right? They got a pick six down on the the on the Falcons own goal line and, you know, then 30 to nothing doesn’t happen without a lot of help from the other team. So, that game I I don’t think the Panthers beat the same team that the Bills just played. Uh I think they beat some bizarro version where they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Uh they’re coming off a win against the Jets and you know the Jets like right I mean it’s the Jets but you go and you win and it was on the road and you talk about the formula and it seems to have become that first of all they’ve been really good at home though they’ll take the road win against the Jets and it is running the football trying to protect the football playing a little smarter you know Dallas can score they beat Dallas Miamiy’s had issues the Jets have had issues but where do you think this Panthers team is now as the Bills come off their buy to head down there on Sunday. I I I’ve been almost on this like DNA analogy like um uh I’m I’m trying don’t hold this analogy against me, but it’s almost like the the cliche of a romcom where two people are like meant to be together and no matter what the like you know one could go live in Africa for a couple years, the other could live in in Europe and it’s like they’re all no matter what happens they’re always going to end up together. Like to me, the Panthers have tried so hard to modernize everything, right? They went the two straight first round draft pick wide receivers, the number one overall draft pick quarterback, the wonderkin young offensive mind. But no matter what happens, the Panthers will always come down to like if they don’t get 30 good offensive rushes a game and play good defense. Like it’s that’s just what it’s in their DNA. They’re going to end up together with ground and pound football. And I think the last couple of years they’ve tried to do other things and they’ve just come like the one bright spot they’ve had in the last like five years is basically six wins under Steve Wilks as an interim coach when he just said like forget the nonsense Deontay Foreman and Chuba Hubard we’re just going to run the ball and and now we’re years later and they’re on a hot streak and it’s forget the nonsense Rico Dowel up the middle for 30 carries a game and Chuba Hubard now that he’s healthy. So, you know, against Miami, they gave the ball away two early times, but it was very obvious Miami’s offense had nothing, right? So, they just ran the football, got back to that plan, come back win. Uh even against Dallas, right, Rico Dowel was doing so well on the ground that they didn’t have to open it up, right? That they they won the game, threw for less than 200 yards. Uh it was just, hey, we’re picking up chunks on the ground, run the football, do what we can defensively. Uh and that’s obviously what happened this this past weekend, right, with 136. like that’s as that’s as Panthers as it gets. Uh and and you just go the Jets have nothing, so let’s run the ball. Let’s find a way to to end this game quickly. And that’s exactly what they did. You’ve you mentioned Rico Dao and he’s putting up the numbers and you’ve seen what the Bills have done. Stopping the run has been a big issue for this team. I assume you think based on what you just said and especially looks like Andy Dalton may be starting uh because of the injury to Bryce Young, we’re gonna see a lot of Rico Doubt on Sunday. You may be hitting on one of my like uh what I think should happen verse what I think will happen. Go ahead. Uh the Panthers are a and this coaching staff is a loyal bunch which I think in most aspects of life is like admirable, right? like that the people that that have done well for them in the past, they get opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. So, I think you’ll see a good amount of Chuba Hubard potential, like he started this past week, he got more carries than I thought. I thought the difference between him and Rico Dow was was noticeable. Um, but I think if the Panthers are going to have any chance in this one, there’s going to have to be some love you Chuba like you’re you’re a great leader. I love that you break the team down before games and, you know, go fight win, but these touches are going to have to go to Rico D. I think there’s a noticeable difference right now. Uh maybe he’ll slow down if he, you know, the uh let’s see, Miami and Dallas, he got like uh you know, 1993 running back usage like he it was it was that kind of he was Thurman Thomas out there for him to use use, you know, example for you guys. Yeah. Um, I don’t know if that can continue all season, but I think it should continue as long as it could because, you know, Rico has been noticeably better. So, I mentioned the quarterbacks. Now, you were a college quarterback, University of Delaware. When we mentioned the Blue Hens, you played football there. We have to mention, and we always say it the way you’re supposed to say it, Joe Flacco. Um, what how do you watch quarterbacks? Because you played at a high level. You’re playing at the University of Delaware has been a great program, NFL players. When you watch Bryce Young and you know what Andy Dalton has been in his career, is this a plus or a minus for the Buffalo Bills coming into this game? It’s It’s a minus. Um, and I’m I’m a big Andy Dalton fan. Uh, I I think this team, Listen, I’m I’ve been on the record, so I’m not like telling secrets here. Uh, I don’t know if Bryce is a guy that’s going to be starting in the NFL for for 10 years. I would lean towards not based on what we’ve seen. But he is, uh, intelligent enough like in game awareness to know, hey, we’re playing the Jets. Their offense can’t do anything. If I don’t turn the ball over, we’re good. Um, and I’m not saying Andy isn’t that. It’s just Andy’s been out of the game for a while, right? He he it’s it takes a certain amount of of reps to get to the point where you’re not hunting first downs and hunting touchdowns and settling for for punts because you know it’s the right move. Um, Andy has come in and played well for them. I think he’s a really really good backup quarterback in the NFL. Um, but you know, there’s a difference and and honestly, Bryce Young might be a really really good backup quarterback in the NFL, but they don’t have they don’t have a starter. Um, if we’re being real, it’s, you know, you ask me if it’s a plus or a minus, it’s probably close to a net indifference, right? They’re both capable of picking up a fourth down. Neither are capable at this point in Andy’s career of throwing for, you know, 320 if you need to. Uh, so it’s it’s about just making the smart plays, which quarterback always is. You ask me how I watch quarterback. Uh, I watch, and I think people got a sense of this with the Manning cast. Not saying I’m Payton or Eli, but I think all quarterbacks kind of operate the same. It’s more you get really mad about like the the operation, right? Like if you have to burn a timeout because everybody’s not lined up. As a former quarterback, you’re going like, “Come on guys, know your assignment.” or if they’re not calling a timeout at the right time. The uh short yardage play calling uh upsets me. Uh we saw Andy Dalton with 240 left in a game with a lead uh on third down throw an incomp completion and I’m sitting there screaming take the sack, right? That’s 40 seconds off the clock. Get it to the two-minute warning. Uh you know, your punter might even, you know, make it up for you. So, that’s the kind of stuff that I get really really frustrated about. And I think we saw a little bit of Andy Dalton not being in rhythm with that at the end of the game where Bryce has been good at end of game situations. Even if he’s being asked to do almost nothing for the first however many minutes of the game, he’s he’s been good in end of game situations. So how much does that fall on the head coach? A good amount that it’s actually funny. Uh and it’s Buffalo, you guys are so spoiled. You have a coach uh right because McDermott’s one of our guys, right? He was a defensive coordinator with the Panthers. He’s a Ron Rivera guy. He’s been in so many like war room football situations. And Josh Allen now after being the king of skittish eyes, right, for a while there where you could almost tell like like uh Oh, no. He’s he’s got crazy things running. Now he’s turn sugar high Josh when he Yeah. Great way to put it. Now he’s he’s so like calm and he’s avoiding turnovers and McDermott’s been through everything. Um we have so many conversations about Bryce being new and oh it’s a young mistake. Dave Canales is just as new, right? He he was a position coach in Seattle. He was an offensive coordinator for one year in Tampa. Then he got a head coaching job. So, there’s been a learning curve, I would say, in in game management as much as anything for for Dave Canales. And if it comes down to that, I wouldn’t be as confident in him. Uh, but I think he’s, you know, a smart enough guy, cares enough, eventually he’ll get get all that together. Hm. Um, I mentioned the the quarterbacks, so let’s talk a little bit about the wide receivers. Um, Xavier Legette coming off a game, Xavier Legette and Ted McMillan. Tell me about those two, where they are and especially McMillan, high draft pick. What what you’ve seen out of him this year. Okay, I’m going to talk about them separately because they’re they’re light years apart. Um, Xavier Leette’s coming off a big game. Andy Dalton had had a little bit of uh chemistry with him. So maybe that’s something to watch for this game. He peppered Xavier Legette much more than we’ve seen in the past. Um but Legette still is a ball of measurables. He’s fast, he’s strong, but he’s he’s not quite a receiver yet, if that makes any sense. Um Ted McMillan is the real deal. He’s he’s first of all gigantic. Uh he’s 6’4 plus. It’s kind of weird to watch him and um I’m trying to like I don’t even know if there’s a a great example for it. Some relate him to like a Mike Evans or a Drake London. I think that’s just because they’re both also Oh, Bills don’t want to Drake London. He destroyed them on that Monday night. But yes, go ahead. Uh like I don’t think they actually play the same. He’s I saw somebody online define it as um efficiency of steps. like so many of these little guys they they set you up with like bing bing bing bing bing bing like almost like they’re running those cones or those ladder drills he does where other people would use seven steps he uses two but he still kind of gets people off off balance he made a safety fall the other day on a post corner and I’m going like why would you fall for that it looked like he was euro stepping through the lane and like it was very obvious he wasn’t going to the post but for whatever reason it works. Um, the one thing he’s had, he’s had a little bit of case of the dropsies, uh, which we didn’t see at all in in college on his tape. So, I don’t think that’s permanent, but, uh, he’s dropped some crucial ones. If you look at again some some advanced analytics of like first downs per catch or first downs per game, he’s near the top of the league, not just amongst rookies. Uh, so Ted’s the real deal with some some He doesn’t like being called T. I should correct myself. Tedoa is the real deal. Okay. Uh, I gota It’s just so cool. T McMillan sounds awesome. So, I got to coach myself out of it. Uh, he appreciates T-Mac, so I’ll go T-Mac. That sounds cool, too. Good. Uh, T-Mac’s the real deal, but he’s a rookie less than half a season into into his career. Xavier Leette is boom or bust. It could work. It could not. I I’m I think he could be a 12-ear player. He could also be out of the league four years from now. Um, and then the rest of the wide receiver group is interesting. Jimmy Horn is fast, rookie, sixth round pick. Jaylen Coker, I don’t think they used enough last week. I’m hoping it’s because he was coming off an injury and and they were just easing him in. But at times last year he was their best wide receiver as an undrafted rookie free agent. Um they got they got some some characters, but it’s definitely McMillan, a large gap, whoever else they have. Unless I’m missing something. I don’t see a lot of at least numbers to the tight ends. Is there somewhere we’re missing that or is that just not a big part of the offense? Uh probably spread out is the way I described. Uh Javian Sanders has been hurt. he’s been in and out of the lineup. He’s more of the uh like he’s a wide receiver that they call a tight end. Uh I I would not expect him to be blocking linebackers very often. Then they have Tommy Trimble who’s underrated. Um he was banged up at the end of last year, missed most of the offseason, but he’s coming on. He’s more of the traditional tight end you would think where he can he can block and catch passes. Uh and then Mitchell Evans is another rookie. He, you know, somebody misadvised him when he was going into college because if he would have put on 35 pounds, he probably would have been like the third overall pick as a tackle. Instead, he’s a big tight end and he’s caught a touchdown. Like, he’s he’s good out there, but he’s he’s a bigger dude that they they lean on. U but I wouldn’t I mean, the issue is just the pass volume, right? If you’re not seeing it like stats to the tight end, it’s really if the stat isn’t to McMillan, nobody has stats. uh because they they’re winning games throwing for 190 yards and they’re losing games when they’re behind throwing for 220. Like there’s there’s just not a lot of not a lot of volume there. And last thing on the offense, but they they did seem to get D involved in the pass game. He’s made a couple of plays. Correct. Yes. And that’s why I think he kind of had that 1993 usage because if him and Chuba Hubard, Chuba Hubard was a start at the beginning of the year, one of the ways they got Dowel involved was he’s a good pass catcher. So then when Chuba Hubard went down, they just gave him all of Chuba’s rushing touches and kept him as kind of the pass catcher that he was designed in, which is how you end up with, you know, 34 carries or touches or whatever he had. Uh he’s he can catch. I mean, he had a long long touchdown against the Cowboys. That was a blown coverage. uh which as a quarterback I struggle between like that doesn’t really count that’s just a huge mistake from them and also give me all of my stats like that like that is a that is a long passing touchdown and you know at the end of the year when you’re looking at your stats they don’t know if it’s in a small window or not. So uh Dowel is he’s been playing very very well. Um you know I should I haven’t talked with you guys this season yet but I I have been doing a lot of like accountability stuff where I’m saying like I didn’t see this coming at all but here’s how it’s happening. Uh, I didn’t see the Panthers being above 500. I didn’t see Rico Doubt being being this dude, but it’s happening. So, we we have to talk about it. Yeah, no doubt about it. Uh, let’s move to the other side of the ball. There’s a couple of guys I want to talk to you about. Um, JC Horn, how good is he? Stud. Um, he is, oh, first of all, when he signed his contract this offseason, he was the highest paid defensive back in NFL history. Uh, said since been broken and two times. Um, but you know, I always say follow the money and you see the value, right? Coaches think that guy is is legit. Uh, the and this is why, you know, like T McMillan I don’t think has been as exciting as Echbuka statwise, but I think he’s playing maybe better. JC Horn isn’t as exciting as some other corners, but I think a lot of that is situational. They have not been ahead darn near at all the last three years. Even the games they’ve won. If you look at uh Bryce uh this actually this game kind of ruined it. Uh before this weekend, Bryce Young had nine career wins. Eight were game-winning drives in the fourth quarter in overtime. Uh which means they’re never ahead. Like they’re never playing with a 10-point lead where quarterbacks know they got to throw, right? So JC Horn has been really good without a ton of opportunities to like settle in and be be greedy. And then this week they’re ahead by 10. JC Horn gets two interceptions and it’s like, “Oh, look at that.” It’s it’s kind of nice when the co the quarterback has to force it a little bit rather than, “Oh, JC’s in the area. Let me throw it away because we’re up and I just want to protect the lead.” Uh, so like don’t get me wrong, JC Horn, he’s legit and and uh there’s a reason why they paid him all that money. Yeah. Um, I don’t know. And I’ll ask you this, if he follows receivers or if he plays his side. The Bills don’t the Bills don’t have a one realistic that anybody you you just keep, you’re touching the third rail all over the place. Okay. They do not travel him. Um, he has requested publicly at the end of the Dallas game, George Pickkins had 160 some odd yards. And I mean it it was the type of frustration watching the game where George Piggin is catching a 45 yard deep ball and and JC Horn is chasing Ryan Florenoi on a on an underneath crosser and it’s I mean JC Horn is jogging because he’s like no one’s going to throw it to this guy. Like what am I doing? Um the last drive and this has been like this not insider knowledge they talked about in the post game. He went up to the defensive coordinator Edgerro Evero and said I want George Pickkins. let me follow George Pickkins and then they closed out the game on on that that drive. Uh it doesn’t happen often. He’s a boundary corner. Um I I it’s at times frustrating but you know I guess it’s nice to know that boundary is always locked up. Yeah, no doubt. Um speaking of that, so the Bills like to have this saying of everybody eats and in most of our opinions it’s because they don’t have a guy who wants to eat the most. Um, and they’ve played like Drake London, they just threw him the ball. We mentioned Joe Flacco when he’s like, “Hey, I I have Jamar Chase. I’m just going to keep throwing it to this guy cuz he’s really, really good.” From a quarterback’s perspective, it’s nice to spread the ball around. But if you got a guy, you just keep throwing it to him, right? Yeah. I’ll give you I’ll give you two two quick stories on that one. Um, one, uh, so to name drop, but it’s Family Drop. I don’t know. My cousin is Mike Lennon, right? He’s my my first cousin, tenure NFL quarterback, right? Uh when he was coming out of high school, he played in the Under Armour All-American game and for whatever uh I don’t know, they gave like an offensive MVP and Mike got it. And I remember hitting him up after like, hey, like way to go and his response was basically, “Did no one notice I only threw it to Julio?” Because he had he had Julio Jones on his team and he had I don’t know 10 catches and nine of them or 10 completions and nine of them were to Julio. And that became like one of cuz he’s a year older than me. That became one of my like mantras which is exactly what you just said, right? Uh Joe Flacco is no dummy and only a dummy wouldn’t throw it to Jamar Chase a bunch. Oh, look at that. He threw it to Jamar Chase a bunch. Um I’ve always been a guy who like if you have a dude use it. Um in my college highlight film I showed it to my friend uh and and like as a hey look how good I am and his response was who’s number 19? because number 19 was my number one wide receiver and he was like that’s not your highlight film that’s his highlight film and I was like well yeah but I I mean someone had to be smart to throw it to him right like nice friends to have right yeah so I I am a a good believer in like having a number one that being said I don’t think your number one has to be like a like for the Bills the number one is Josh Allen right Josh Allen it whoever he’s throwing it to becomes your number one because he’s that wildly talented Um he’s one of my favorite quarterbacks to watch. It’s it’s really been fun watching his development. So um you know it’s I’ll give you another like quarterback theory thing here. There’s this this evolution of a quarterbacking which is when you’re young you know often times you go to a bad team especially for Hydrick uh and then when they give you the the the studs you kind of blow up right third year uh Allen gets Diggs. Third year Tua gets Tyreek. third year Herz gets AJ Brown and all these guys they blow up and then due to salary cap purposes usually you sign your contract they start slowly taking things away like one by one and you get to see who’s legit right and and like you know Tua maybe didn’t pass that test as well obviously Patrick Mahomes passed that test uh when they started taking away Tyreek and all of a sudden all these guys are gone other than Kelsey um so for for Josh yeah you’re at that point now where we’re going to start making jokes. Remember all the jokes about Tom Brady can take a a you know a grocery checker from Foxboro sack and save and and you know he’ll get him 100 yards. Uh you know Aaron Rogers never had a first round pick wide receiver. It’s like once you hit a certain point where you’re that good, they stop giving you number one wide receivers because it’s now on you to turn them into number one wide receivers. And obviously Josh Allen is at that point. Yeah. It’ll be interesting to see how they play it this week because the Bills have tried to be more of a running game. James Cook’s probably their second best player. I mean, he’s been really good when they give him the ball. Um, but it seems like the Panthers have done a pretty good job against the run, Derek Brown. Yep. Right. Is it Did a light go on? Has he been, you know, he was a high draft pick, but seemed it played really well against the Jets. Tell me about him. So Derek Brown is it’s not a light going on. He’s always been that dude. Uh what is it two or three last year whatever. So you know I never know what to call last year the year before. Last year he was hurt for the he got hurt week one didn’t play. Year before uh as an interior defensive lineman he had 103 tackles. Uh which is I believe and I’m I’m saying I believe like I don’t it’s an NFL record. That’s the most for an interior defensive lineman. He is a run stuffing like prodigy. Um the difference is, you know, in in modern football if you’re going to be the Aaron Donald, if you’re going to be the Chris Jones, like you got to be able to stuff the run and throw 10 sacks in there. He hasn’t done that. So although he has he had two last week, three I believe ties is season high already that he has this year. So maybe he’s leveling up in that way. But as a run stuffer, he’s been great. and coming off the injury the first two or three games he wasn’t himself. Uh he has since I don’t know if it’s believing in you know the injured body part and now he’s he’s like all in not thinking about it but it’s wild how this this rise of the Panthers run defense which is now over the last month one of the best in the league coincides with Derrick Brown looking like the Derrick Brown pre-injjury. So I mean James Cook is as laterally quick as anybody. I’m not saying he won’t pop off a few times, but it is going to be tough sledding between the tackles against this team because they got a dude who doesn’t always like this past week, he showed up in the stat sheet, got a couple sacks, seven tackles, three for a loss, I think, couple passes defense, but a lot of times it’s that stupid interior defensive lineman thing where you know he’s just swallowing up blocks and then everybody else has good stats and you real like you don’t realize how good he is until he’s off the field. So, I always ask this because I think I looked at the number and it’s kind of a high number. I think the Bills are seven, seven and a half point favorites in this one. Um, and here the Panthers have not lost at home. Um, what’s the game plan? What’s the path? And I think I already know it. You’ve described it. It’s say it’s Andy Dalton. It’s out there. What’s the What’s the path for them to you say upset the Bills and go to five and three on the year? I think there’s a bit of hope there. I don’t think that number is outrageous. I the the Panthers have won a good amount of games, but it’s I mean that part of that is opponent based. Like they they’re not beating a 27 Yankees like murderers row of a schedule. Um I mean the path is like we’ve been they have to run the ball and maybe it’s a little different with Andy. Um but with when Bryce is the quarterback, it’s very much he can be really good in small sample sizes. He quite frankly has been bad when asked to throw it 30 or more times a game. So they’ve kind of built that that offense around that theory of if we can limit our quarterback to like 24 attempts, we can be pretty good. And the only way you do that is to shorten the game, run the football, play good defense, right? If you get behind two scores, I I don’t like them. Unless it’s against the Dolphins where you gifted them two scores of a of a lead and you you’re very aware that their offense can’t do anything, which won’t happen with the Bills. So, it’s it’s, you know, it’s Pop Warner football out there, right? It’s it’s can you run the football? Can you tackle? Can can you make the Bills have 12play touchdown drives rather than four play touchdown drives? Uh, and and can you limit the responsibility of the quarterback? And last thing for me is is where the fan base is. And this is based on maybe what you hear in calls, what you see on social media, and people that you talk to. uh you know when Sean McDermott was there as coordinator you know with that team they ended up you know with Cam they go to the Super Bowl they’ve had fits and starts trying to be good again um where’s the fan base that’s a big broad question but where’s the fan base on this team wait and see encouraged not sure where do you think they are nobody is wait and see everybody like if there were spectrums it is like the Sharks and the Jets. There are there’s a contingent that thinks this winning streak is is fool’s gold. Um Bryce needs to go, Dave Canales needs to go, the owner needs to go, you need to start over. Uh you know, all of this bad stuff. Uh and then there’s the contingent that if you even suggest like, you know, hey, Bryce might not be the guy long term, they’re crushing you because uh he’s the best and he’s a great guy and and they’re they’re set up for the future. Uh and this winning streak has emboldened that second group quite a bit, right? They they have been quiet uh because it’s been so rough the last two years. But um there I think there’s an optimism that’s waiting to come out. I’m like I know the Bills have been through it, but I’m just going to paint a picture of where the Browns were like 24 months ago. Uh they traded away their first round pick and that ended up being the number one overall pick. So, you were the worst team in the NFL and you don’t even get the one prize that you get for being the worst team in the NFL. So, that is like there’s no accusations of tanking. I’m sure other teams were tanking trying to get the number one pick and they still couldn’t be as bad as the Panthers were doing with no reason to tank. So, to go from there to now four and three, like the ones that have been believers are definitely taking a victory lap, but the ones that have been all the way out are kind of digging their heels in as well. There’s very little, you know, hey, you don’t have to make a decision on Bryce until this off seasonason. We got to pick up his fifth year option or not. There’s very little of that. It’s either like he’s our guy or he’s not. And that’s kind of how everyone is on on the whole regime. And the last thing would be um a lot of Western New York ends up down in your area. I’m sure you probably see or hear them all over uh Carolina. What What’s the atmosphere like at these games these days? And and what’s it like for visiting fans going into uh see a Panthers game? Uh it’s getting better. It’s getting better. I I we will not describe any of our fan base as a mafia. Like there’s no there’s there’s not that yet. Um but you’re seeing more jerseys around. You’re see you’re seeing more of that sort of thing. I assume there will be a good Bills contingent. Um, you know, we we we joke when like, you know, the the Rangers play the Carolina Hurricanes that, you know, Rangers fans had to drive all the way from 20 minutes away. Uh, like like there’s there’s those jokes, but um like the the Carolina Faithful is they’re faithful. Like they’re they’re there. Um they’re not filling stadiums a ton, but they’re there. Uh, and I think if it’s I’m sure the Bills felt this for a little bit, it does feel like there’s a big group that’s just waiting for like that one real season to jump all the way in and and maybe their ears are perked up, right? They might be they might not be driving all the way to Charlotte for the game, but they might be going to a bar this weekend. Like they they might be, you know, wearing their their shirt in public when they normally wear it on the couch. Like we’re we’re inching out there and uh I think that’s good. baby steps, right? That’s what it’ll be to get them there. Well, we’re looking forward to it, Tim. I really appreciate it. Uh, let everybody know where they can find you. Listen, uh, keep up to date. Uh, maybe even hear some about the Hurricanes. You know, the Sabres always have a pretty good rivalry with them. Let let everybody know where they can hear you. Uh, 999 The Fan is our station. Um, we have an app or probably easiest on YouTube, 999 The Fan. Uh, check us out. We’re We’re uh yeah, I mean, if you’re if you’re a Sabres fan, we we put out a lot of Kane’s Kane’s stuff. If you’re a Bills fan, enjoy it, but just know doesn’t doesn’t last forever. At least that’s you know what Kane’s era or CAM era Panther fans would want you know. No, there’s no doubt about that. All right, Tim, thanks very much. Tim Donnelly, uh telling us what’s going on down in Carolina as the Bills get set to play against the Panthers. That’s going to do it for us. Thanks for being with us. As always, please make sure to like, comment, and subscribe, and we will see you the next time here on Buffalo Plus.

Fresh off their bye, the Bills will head to Carolina looking to snap their two-game losing streak. Tim Donnelly from 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh joins Mike Catalana to talk about the state of the Panthers in the midst of a three-game winning streak.

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