The Carolina Panthers have won three straight games to improve to 4-3 on the season, establishing themselves as playoff contenders near them midway point of the campaign.

However, two of their three wins during this stretch came against the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, a couple of the worst teams in football.

Not to take anything away from the Panthers, because they also shut out the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the season and defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, but it seems fair to say that their upcoming Sunday matchup against the Buffalo Bills will be their most difficult test yet.

The good news is that Carolina may very well be built to pull off an upset here.

How? Well, because the Panthers have suddenly become one of the NFL's most lethal rushing offenses thanks to Rico Dowdle, who has exploded the past several weeks. Carolina's ground attack now ranks third in the league. Meanwhile, the Bills are second to last in rushing defense.

Seems like a recipe for success for the Panthers, right?

Carolina will likely be without Bryce Young this weekend following the ankle injury he suffered against the Jets last Sunday, so that is even more of a reason why the Panthers will have to rely on Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard versus the Bills (although Andy Dalton might not even be a significant dropoff from Young at this point).

This game will also be in Carolina, where the Panthers are undefeated this season. Buffalo has lost two straight games and really doesn't have any overly impressive wins on its resume, so the jury is out on whether or not the Bills are actually any good, too.

Taking all of those things into consideration, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Carolina could beat Buffalo. The Panthers are legitimately playing their best football in years, and the Bills don't look quite like the sure-fire Super Bowl favorites many felt they were earlier in the season.

Carolina's defense has been very good in 2025, as well, going from the worst statistical unit of all-time to the eighth-ranked defense in the NFL this year.

The Panthers are no longer pushovers, so the Bills will need to be more then prepared on Sunday.