The Bills defeat the Panthers 40-9; Josh Allen scored three touchdowns.

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — James Cook rushed for a career-high 216 yards and two touchdowns, Josh Allen had three scores and the Buffalo Bills returned from their bye week with a resounding 40-9 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Allen improved to 8-0 after the bye week and set an NFL record by becoming the first player to rush and throw for a touchdown in 46 games, breaking the mark previously held by former Panthers QB Cam Newton.

Allen's 77 career rushing touchdowns (including playoff games) tied Newton for the most all-time.

Allen completed 12 of 19 passes for 163 yards for the Bills (5-2), including a 54-yard pass to Khalil Shakir, and ran for two short touchdowns.

Cook had touchdown runs of 64 and 21 yards, becoming the third Bills running back to rush for 200 yards and two touchdowns, joining Cookie Gilchrist and OJ Simpson. Cook, who sat out the fourth quarter, did so against a defense that had allowed just 131 rushing yards over the previous three weeks.

Buffalo's defense sacked Andy Dalton seven times and forced the veteran quarterback into three turnovers to open a 40-3 third-quarter lead. Dalton, replacing the injured Bryce Young, completed 16 of 24 passes for 175 yards, with two fumbles and an interception, thus halting the Panthers' three-game winning streak.

Buffalo built a 19-3 halftime lead behind Cook's career-high 153 rushing yards (the most in a first half by a running back since his brother Dalvin Cook rushed for 153 in 2021) and three big mistakes by Dalton.

Dalton's first mistake came with the Panthers deep in Buffalo territory when he had to run and Greg Rousseau stripped him from behind, resulting in Christian Benford recovering.

The Bills converted that into Matt Prater's field goal.

Shortly after, Dalton threw an ill-advised screen pass directly into the arms of Bills defensive end AJ Espenesa, who returned it to the Carolina 1, setting up a QB play for an Allen touchdown.

With the Panthers (4-4) threatening to score a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half, Dalton was sacked on third down. With no timeouts, the Panthers rushed their field goal unit onto the field, but kicker Ryan Fitzgerald couldn't convert a rushed 32-yard punt, and the Panthers went into the locker room trailing by 16.

The Bills extended their lead to 26-3 when Khalil Shakir converted a short pass from Allen into a 54-yard touchdown. Khalil finished with six receptions for 88 yards.

Dalton had another fumble that led to Allen's second touchdown run of the game and fell to 1-6 as a Panthers starter over the past three seasons.