"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. xleg

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.""