More photos » Kathy Willens - AP

3 months ago: Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson (22) leaps over teammate Corey McIntyre (38) during overtime of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Bills won the game 16-13. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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The Panthers head into Wednesday 2-3 and on the verge of truly finding their identity for the first time this season. Sunday's game in Tampa Represented a paradigm shift, returning to the Panther tenets of running the football and playing hard nosed defense.

Our opponents this week are the 2-4 Buffalo Bills, a team with a lot of promise but unable to find their identity as a football team. On paper they have one of the best stating receiving duos in the NFL in Lee Evans and Terrell Owens, however, in reality they have failed to gel with QB Trent Edwards and the Buffalo offense has been stifled. That being said, they still have a lot of talent at multiple positions and they're not a team we can afford to sleep on this week, as the New York Jets can attest. 

Buffalo's Offense

The Bills have a major dual threat with RB Fred Jackson. Jackson leads the Bills in both rushing yards, and receptions and is often used as a very capable outlet in the passing game. Despite these abilities, he has yet to find the end zone on the ground in 2009, only scoring 1 TD on a reception. This bodes well for the Carolina run defense that seems to only have issues with RBs scoring in the red zone, and have not allowed the homerun gains on the ground. Marshawn Lynch hasn't truly returned to his form from last season after coming off a 3 game suspension, but he is still a threat, particularly in the red zone.

Trent Edwards is a better quarterback than his season statistics suggest. However, there is also a very good chance he will be unable to play vs. the Panthers due to a concussion. If he does start, we need to be aware that Edwards likes to utilize short passes and rarely takes deep shots downfield (much to the dismay of Owens). He will ensure our LBs and nickel backs get a true workout, but judging from the Panthers' pass defense the last couple of weeks, it should not really be a threat. He holds onto the ball far too long also, which has lead to him being sacked 19 times in 5 games. While Edwards doesn't use his feet often, when he does, he does so effectively. He's rushed for over 100 yards this season on 9.3 ypc. He gets the most of the opportunities he takes. Josh Johnson highlighted just how poorly the Panthers deal with running QBs, thus, it's an element to his game we need to be wary of.

If Ryan Fitzpatrick gets the nod then we should expect a more run based offense. He faired pretty poorly last week against the Jets, only completing 40% of his passes. He too focuses on short passes and rarely takes shots downfield.

Lee Evans is still a big time receiver in the NFL, he's just having a down year, and a lot of that can be attributed to the QB position. Chris Gamble will be charged with handling Evans, with Richard Marshall being on Terrell Owens. Owens has been vastly disappointing for the Bills in 2009, but he's one of those players who could breakout when you least expect it. Despite all the interviews, the ball signing, the locker room drama when it comes down to Sunday's T.O has the ability to be one of the best WRs in the game, and let's hope he doesn't find his legs on Sunday.

Buffalo's Defense

It starts with their run defense, which should be one of the stoutest in the league, but has completely failed to live up to expectation. They are 32^nd in the league allowing 181 yards on the ground per game. They have a highly, highly talented LB corps of Keith Ellison, Paul Posluszny and Kawika Mitchell, coupled with run stopping DT Marcus Stroud and you can see the potential ability of their front seven, but they have failed to stop opposing RBs. Furthermore, the injury bug has bitten the Bills very, very badly in their front seven. Mitchell is out, Posluszny is probable and Ellison is questionable. All 3 LBs have been affected by injury and this bodes well for Carolina, double trouble should have a giant day, not just giant, but potentially epic... we could see a 300 yard day by them.

It will be incumbent upon the offensive line to push back the Buffalo D-line to allow Double Trouble to make the runs they need, to ensure a Carolina victory. Buffalo's defensive line includes the aforementioned Stroud and Aaron Schobel as the defensive standouts. Schobel is one of the more underrated DE in the NFL and he is extremely athletic. He should give Jordan Gross a workout on Sunday.

Where the Bills' defense is stacked is against the pass, ranked 4^th in the league. Jake needs to play better, it's a simple and that... and Steve Smith needs to work harder at getting the separation he has gotten the last few years. The Bills will test our receivers, but I don't see a corner physical enough to stop Smitty from utilizing his bread and butter quick hitch play. On paper it should be horrible day for the passing offense, but I am hoping Davidson, Delhomme and the receivers get on the same page. We should also take advantage of Dante Rosario to punish the weakened Bills linebackers.

Final Prognosis

This could very easily be the week we reach .500. The Bills are battered and bruised, but also showed a lot of heart winning in OT against the resurgent Jets. We are a team who lives by the run, and dies by the run, and they will need to show up this week. On paper we have all the advantages in this matchup, however, we had all the advantages against Washington and Tampa also and the game was closer than I care to remember.

That being said, I think more of the team comes together this week in Charlotte. With a chip on their shoulder to show the hometown crowd that they can come back from their horrendous start I think they play with a vast amount of fire and emotion. Last week I called the game 28-10 Panthers, it was 28-21. So, I might not be as overly confident as last week with my prediction. I think it will be a hard fought game, but with a battered LB corps the Bills can't stop double trouble.

Carolina Panthers 24 - Buffalo Bills 17