CHARLOTTE — If you can feel a spark in the air in Charlotte this week, an electricity zipping through the Queen City, it's because the Panthers (4-3) are coming home off their first road win of the season, back to Bank of America Stadium, where they've won four straight going back to last season, to face a 4-2 Bills team.

"We're excited about this weekend, excited to be home again, play in front of our fans here at Bank of America Stadium," said Dave Canales on Friday. "There's just a lot of excitement with this group, the type of football that we're continuing to build together and the progress that we're seeing, weekly really for our group."

The Bills are undefeated coming off a bye week under coach Sean McDermott (former Panthers' defensive coordinator), going 8-0 since 2017.

This week will look interesting for the Panthers, with questions at the quarterback position and a second straight week of juggling two running backs. Between those points of interest, a date with a reigning MVP, and more, here are five things to watch Sunday in Panthers versus Bills.

Can the defense outlast Josh Allen play after play?

There are a handful of quarterbacks, once a generation, that you just know are special. Josh Allen is one of those players.

"He's a great football player, and my job is, you know, try to silence that," admitted outside linebacker Nic Scourton. "So, of course, my antennas are up a little bit more this week because we're playing against Josh Allen.

"He's a quarterback, but he's the size of a D-lineman or an outside linebacker. He's just physical. When you got a guy who wants to go out there and put his shoulder down and he's worth a crap ton of money, he's just a competitor and he wants to do whatever it takes for his team to win, and I just ultimately respect that and I'm excited to go out there and play."

It will be a good test for the young rookie. But for that matter, Josh Allen is a good test for every defense.

Echoed defensive lineman Derrick Brown, "I mean, he's a pretty big-ass quarterback."

The Panthers' defense has taken major strides this season, especially in recent weeks. Over the three-game win streak (from Week 5-7), the unit has posted 9.0 sacks. The challenge of Allen, perhaps more than anything else he brings to his game, is his ability to buy time. Allen has the second-highest scramble percentage (12 percent), almost qualifying as a quarterback, the most scramble rushing yards (250) of any QB this season, and has scrambled for 83 yards that resulted in a pass.

Linebacker Christian Rozeboom has played Allen in the past and knows you have to fortify yourself physically and mentally to stick with Allen's receivers.

"There were a couple of times where I was guarding somebody for what felt like forever," recalled Rozeboom. "And so I turned around, and he's still got the ball scrambling around."

Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero admitted it's hard to fully emulate the skill in practice—"to an extent you can, but obviously, what we're going to see on Sunday is going to be a way different ability"—so the biggest lesson heading into Sunday is to remember not to stop on any play at any time.

"Our big thing this week is the strain," continued Evero. "The strain for the guys rushing the quarterback to make sure that, hey, even if you don't win, we've got to continue to fight, we've got to continue to strain to stay in our rush lanes. And the people that are covering, they got to continue to strain to stay in coverage and understand that these plays are going to extend a lot longer than they normally do.

"It's a tribute to his ability as a player, and so we know the task at hand, and there won't be any surprises on Sunday, and so we just have to be ready."

The Atlanta Falcons provided a bit of a blueprint on this as well. Atlanta pressured Allen on nine of 19 blitz dropbacks, and he was sacked three times. Overall, the Falcons pressured Allen on 44.1 percent of his dropbacks (15 of 34), the highest pressure rate Allen has faced in a game since Week 5, 2024. Entering Week 6, the Bills had allowed the lowest pressure rate in the NFL (22.3 percent).

Another way to slow down Allen? Force him into more turnovers. After going 12 straight games with only one turnover, Allen has thrown four interceptions in the past three games.

Can the defense slow down another top back?

As if Josh Allen wasn't a tough enough task, there's also James Cook III to deal with on defense. The Bills' back is fourth in the league with 537 yards, averaging 89.5 yards per game. He picks up 5.0 yards a clip, as well as hauling in 12 receptions for 89 yards.

"He's a great runner. You've got to watch him in the pass game, too," said linebacker Trevin Wallace. "He's a great receiver back, like he can run the ball, run the ball, and I feel like if you get too honed in on that, boom, he pops it out, and he can catch the ball. So he's like a two-headed monster —can catch and run.

Cook will be the sixth running back in the current Top 13 of the league that the Panthers' defense will have faced in eight games. They've held teams to an average of 92.6 yards per game, which is eighth in the league. Since Week 2, the Panthers have held teams to 74.67 yards a game, which is second in the NFL during that time.

None of it matters if they don't stop Cook on Sunday.

"Living in the moment we're in right now, we're playing good run defense," Brown said. "But, … you can shut people out, have less than 100 yards for 10 weeks in a row and then the second you do, everyone thinks you suck."

The duo of Brown and A'Shawn Robinson on the line has helped create a wall that running backs can't get through.

According to Next Gen Stats, Robinson has recorded 22 tackles and zero missed tackles in run defense this season, the third-most tackles without a missed tackle by any defensive lineman. Robinson and Brown have each recorded 17 run stops this season (i.e., tackles resulting in negative plays for the offense), tied for third among defensive linemen.

Can Trevor Etienne take another leap forward?

Rookie back and returner Trevor Etienne had his best game as a returner against the Jets, returning three punts for 35 yards and one kickoff for 45 yards.

"I say just the confidence and the blocking of my teammates, just appreciate them, how they were able to set things up," Etienne commented this week.

The production was a result of a few things: the blocking, as Etienne mentioned, his confidence, and his time on task. While he did return some in college, the rules and balls are different in the NFL. Now halfway through his first season, Etienne feels like a new returner each week.

"I feel like I learned something new each week, and I feel like the more I do it, the better I get," Etienne said. "So it's just one of those things—I guess experience, you can say, just doing it at this level. So I'm just kind of in that transition where like I learned something new, getting comfortable, confident, and just going out there and compete."

Now, it's about taking a step forward against the Bills.

"He certainly put the work in," noted special teams coordinator Tracy Smith. "He should be improving his skill level. We're getting better around him. We're trying to—kind of one step at a time, one week at a time, if you start from the new baseline, whatever the new baseline is, let's go one step up from that, and then hopefully this last game was our new baseline. Let's go up a level from that."

Currently, the Panthers are middle of the pack on both punt and kickoff. Etienne himself has been averaging 22.8 yards on kickoff and 6.6 yards on punt.

The Bills' return coverage on punts is middle of the league, allowing 8.4 yards on return. They are in the bottom half of kickoff coverage, allowing 25.9 yards per return.

"You definitely want to improve on something like that and go into the week expecting the best outcome," said Etienne. "And you know, just go out there and compete."

What happens at the QB position?

Bills fans love Andy Dalton. After he led the Bengals to a win over the Baltimore Ravens in the 2017 season, subsequently putting the Bills into the playoffs for the first time in years, Buffalo fans showed their support by donating close to half a million dollars to Dalton's foundation, and gave him a standing ovation during a preseason game the following year.

"That's one of the coolest stories that obviously, for me, I got to be a part of," Dalton recalled this week. "I think from the Bills fans' standpoint, I mean, to be able to have that moment where we defeated the Ravens, got them into the playoffs, and then all the generosity that Bill's mafia has has showed me and my family and our foundation with all the money that they were able to donate, it was pretty cool.

"So I mean most of the time it's like you get a team that you've played for that you've got some fans, but for a team that I never played for, it's pretty special."

It could make Sunday unique, with Buffalo having to cheer against their beloved opponent. As of now, Bryce Young is considered doubtful for the Week 8 matchup. If that status remains the same, Dalton will get the start.

"He's made progress every day, and we want just to keep our options open right now," Canales said. "Didn't want to rule him out, just wanted to say, OK, you woke up today, it was better than you did yesterday, so tomorrow we'll move around. We rested it pretty good today. We had two good days of work on that ankle, so we'll take a look at it again tomorrow, and then we'll make the best decision from there."

Practice squad passer Hendon Hooker will be the backup for Dalton, Canales confirmed Friday, if Young is out.

"Excited about Hooker, excited about him being here, being in tune with what we're doing, continuing to do a great job for us when he got his opportunities on the scout stuff," Canales said. "Really into the game plan, and this is why we brought him here."

Dalton started a game in place of an injured Young in 2023, and took over as a starter for a spell last season as well. He finished out the game against the Jets after Young's injury. In his 15-year career, Dalton is 4-2 against the Bills, having last faced the club in 2019. He's gone 1-5 in his six starts with the Panthers, dating back to 2023.

"I've been able to take more reps with the offense, which is nice," Dalton said Thursday. "Normally just doing the scout team stuff, so nice to actually be out there, get to run our offense, but from a preparation standpoint, nothing really changes for me."

In three appearances this season, Dalton has gone 9-13 (69.2 percent) for 118 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.

Can the crowd affect the game?

Panthers coaches and players have been very vocal this week, asking Carolina fans to show up en masse, early, and be loud. With what seems to be a pipeline from Buffalo to Charlotte, there is already a large contingent of Bills fans in the Queen City. Furthermore, it is a fanbase that travels well.

But the Panthers are also undefeated at home this season, and have won the last four at Bank of America Stadium, going back to last season. As those wins have stacked up, so has the fan support. This season, fans have helped force four pre-snap penalties (false starts or delay of games) on opposing offenses.

On Sunday, Derrick Brown wants to see more of the Panthers' blue back in the bottom bowl. It's a two-way street, though, and the captain knows the team has to do their part.

"For many years I've been here and, you know, to see the bottom bowl, different colors, I'm never a fan of that," admitted Brown. "But I mean, we've had some great turnouts this year, and I mean it all comes along with winning, so I mean we know we got to handle our part and be able to keep that going."

Added Canales, "We need you. Don't miss this offense. If we get a chance to get out there first, if we get the choice, we're kicking the ball, and you're going to see your defense out there continuing to build on the things that we're doing.

"It's an exciting time for our team. It's exciting time for the Panthers, and to be able to see some of these, some of the talent come together, the guys who we brought in, in free agency, the draft picks all developing, all growing right before our eyes. It's an exciting time in our football, and I can't wait to hear keep pounding from snap one until the final finish of the game."