♦  Don’t be surprised to see newly acquired linebacker Chris Draft starting at weak side linebacker in place of Ashlee Palmer.  He’s been taking first team reps and the team was impressed with his performance in limited playing time at New York last week.  Draft had a sack, making him the only linebacker on the roster besides Kawika Mitchell to bring down a quarterback this season.

♦  Buffalo will only dress two tight ends for the game as Shawn Nelson has now been officially ruled out of the game.  This means Derek Fine will start as usual, but Jonathan Stupar will see extensive action in two tight end sets.

♦ Something of note a writer who covers the Bills pointed out to me.  Last week against the Jets, the Bills lined up a tight end next to Jamon Meredith at right tackle on nearly every play.  Of course, Meredith was making his first NFL start in his first game and the team wanted to give him help.    What should be pointed out is it mean left tackle Demetrius Bell was left alone on  the other side and all things considering played very well.  Bell has struggled on the field and to stay healthy.  According to Stats.com,  he’s been responsible for four sacks already this season and has committed a boat load of penalties.  If he can develop it would go a long way towards rectifying an underachieving offense.

♦ Bell will have to be on top of his game.  After a slow start, Panthers’ defensive end Julius Peppers has heated up.  After only getting one sack in his first three games he has four in his last two.

♦ Kyle Williams has not been ruled out for the game as of yet, but his shoulder injury is likely to keep him off the field.  That hurts the Bills.  Williams leads the defense with four tackles for losses this season. Next is Marcus Stroud with three.

♦ In case of emergency, Fred Jackson becomes the quarterback if Ryan Fitzpatrick and Gibran Hamden were to both leave the game.

♦ Disgruntled wide receiver/punt returner Roscoe Parrish will very likely be active this week.  The reason; the team doesn’t have enough healthy bodies.  If Xavier Omon (flu symptoms) is healthy enough to go, then Parrish will be in the press box.  But we’ve heard its unlikely.  With Hamden now the second quarterback, the Bills could very well elect to designate Parrish as the third quarterback.

♦  This is just the fourth time the two teams have met.  The Bills hold a 2-1 series advantage although the Panthers won their last meeting, 13-9 in 2005.

♦  In what could be an ominous sign for the dead last ranked Buffalo rush defense, Carolina is eighth best in the league at running the ball.  DeAngelo Williams leads the Panthers rushing attack with 372 rushing yards, while Jonathan Stewart has average five yards per carry on his 50 attempts.  The one thing the Panthers haven’t done is bust a long run.  Their longest scamper of the season is only 28 yards.

♦ Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme leads the NFL with 10 interceptions and has thrown at least one pick in every game they’ve played this season.  This could be good news for a Bills defense that has intercepted 10 passes already this year.

♦ The Panthers will be looking to gets Steve Smith more involved.  Through five games he only has 21 receptions and has yet to find the end zone.

♦ You may see plenty of turnovers in this contest.  The Panthers are minus 10 in turnover ratio, while the Bills are a negative-two.

♦ Panthers leading tackler (48) Thomas Davis is questionable with a sore hamstring.  Linebacker Na’il Diggs (rib) and running back Brad Hoover (back) are also questionable.

♦  For Buffalo, Trent Edwards (head), Shawn Nelson (head), Donte Whitner (ankle), Bryan Scott (ankle) and Jonathan Scott (ankle) have been ruled out.  Kyle Williams (shoulder) is listed as questionable but unlikely to play.

♦  Of course, this means Ryan Fitzpatrick makes his first Bills start.  He completed 10-of-25 passes for 116 yards last week in relief of Edwards as the Bills came back from being down 10 to beat the Jets in overtime.  Fitzpatrick, including the Bengals last season, has went 5-3-1 in his last nine appearances.

♦  Keith Ellison is tied for fourth in the AFC with 56 tackles.

♦  Rookie Jairus Byrd is tied for AFC lead with three interceptions after picking off a pair in New York last week.  He’ll get the start at free safety against Carolina.

♦  Terrell Owens has five drops this season, tied for tops in the AFC.

♦  When it’s third down and the Bills are on offense, Josh Reed has been their best option.  Reed has caught five, third down passes for first downs this year, tops on the team.