CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Buffalo Bills' defense gets a chance today to prove the validity of the cliche, "There are lies, damned lies and statistics."

The Bills rank last in the NFL in run defense, allowing 182 yards a game.

Are they really that bad?

The Carolina Panthers will be determined to find out when the two teams meet at Bank of

America Stadium.

Carolina ranked third in rushing last season, stands eighth this season and boasts one of

the best tailback combinations in the league in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

"They've got a really good offensive line, and their running backs have great vision," said

Bills linebacker Keith Ellison. "They're able to find the crack in the defense."

Both teams are looking to build momentum in their seasons. The Bills (2-4) are coming off

an overtime win at New York. The Panthers (2-3) hope to take advantage of a third straight

below-average opponent. Carolina beat Washington and Tampa the past two weeks.

The Bills allowed 318 rushing yards to the Jets last week, the second-highest total given

up in team history.

Asked if he was embarrassed by that total, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell replied:

"No! You know what? They beat us on two plays. We screwed up on two plays. By the time we

got that corrected, we were fine. We had two plays. Am I embarrassed? No.

"Hey, I thought our guys continued to fight. Did I want to give up 300 yards? No. But we

did, but you know what? We imposed our will and we won the football game, bottom line."

The Bills are on a bad four-week streak against the run. Before the Jets game, they allowed

171 to the Browns, 250 to the Dolphins and 222 to the Saints.

Bills Week Seven Preview: Bills at Carolina

However, the Bills' defense still has played well enough to give the team a good chance to

win every game this season, with the possible exception of the Miami game.

Buffalo has missed injured safeties Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott in the run game. Both

will be out again today with ankle injuries.

"Some of it is continuity," Fewell said. "We don't have the same guys in all of the time.

Some of it is secondary support. We're not doing a good job from that standpoint, and then

sometimes ... it sounds simple but it's not easy, you have to stand your gap, shed a block,

and make a tackle and we're not doing that. That's just the bottom line.

"We're not executing the fundamentals of run defense right now. We're not a good

fundamental run defense."

The Bills may try to stiffen the run defense today by starting veteran Chris Draft, signed

10 days ago, at weak-side linebacker in place of rookie Ashlee Palmer.

There's nothing second-rate about Carolina's running game.

Williams was a first-round draft choice in 2006. Stewart was a first-round pick in 2008.

Their nickname is "Double Trouble." Williams, who was a wildcat quarterback in college at

Memphis, rushed for 1,515 yards last year and a league-best 18 touchdowns. Stewart, out of

Oregon, rushed for 836 yards and 10 TDs. Through five games this year, the Panthers are

averaging 131 rushing yards.

On the offensive line, left tackle Jordan Gross was the eighth overall pick in 2003 and was

an All-Pro last season. He has missed just one game in seven years. Carolina traded up last

year to take right tackle Jeff Otah 19th overall. Underrated left guard Travelle Wharton is

one of the best linemen in the league who never has made the Pro Bowl. Fullback Brad Hoover is

an excellent lead blocker.

Carolina often will line up with a regular, two-back set or in a two-tight end formation.

The Panthers have three bread-and-butter run plays.

One is a strong-side zone play, where the back starts out toward the tight end side of the

line, the linemen block straight ahead on whichever defender is in their zone and the back has

the ability to cut back against the flow of the play if he wishes.

Another is a strong-side draw play, in which the quarterback and offensive linemen set up

like it's a pass, and the back takes a handoff to the tight end side of the line.

Another is a weak-side iso (or isolation), in which the fullback leads the play away from

the tight end side and the back attacks the gap between the defensive linemen on that side of

the line.

"Our job as defenders is to make sure they don't have that crack," Ellison said. "We have

to build up that wall where every time they think they see a lane, we've got to have a

defender in that crack. That's the way we have to stop them."

The Bills were hurt by cutback runs against the Jets.

"That hurt us," Ellison said. "That's been a big point of emphasis this week."

The problem for the linebackers against the Panthers is Williams has great speed. He can

get around the corner on those strong-side run plays. So the linebackers need to be quick.

But if they overreact and flow too fast to the side of the field the play is going —

and this has been a problem for Buffalo — Williams is great at cutting back against the

flow.

The Panthers also aren't afraid to run on third down. They gashed Tampa last week several

times when the Bucs were in a pass-oriented defense.

"I know on a couple plays [the Bucs] had blitzes on and Carolina actually ran the ball,"

Ellison said. "On certain blitzes, it makes the gaps uncertain — makes the players

uncertain about where to be at. Sometimes you get people trapped in the same gap."

Bills tight end Shawn Nelson was battling illness all week and did not make the trip to

Charlotte, the team reported Saturday.