Carolina's next three opponents are Oakland (30th against the run), Detroit (31st) and Atlanta (22nd), which means DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart will have a chance to shine. Williams for certain; Stewart if he's able to overcome a heel injury.

It helps too that the Panthers should have all of their horses back on the offensive line this week.

The Panthers come into the game ranked 13th in the league in rushing but expect to get right tackle Jeff Otah and center Ryan Kalil back this week.

Both practiced full on Wednesday.

"We get our signal caller back in Kalil, and Otah is a mainstay on the offensive line," Williams said. "We have our starting line back and, no disrespect to the guys who filled in when they were out, but getting those guys back healthy and getting back to doing what we do ... I think we can make a strong push for the playoff run."

The Panthers are 6-2 this season and have had success despite a patchwork offensive line.

Versatile Geoff Hangartner and Jeremy Bridges have provided great depth, offsetting the fact that only one lineman (right guard Keydrick Vincent) has started all eight games.

"I thought both of them made it through practice and were able to fully participate I think for the first time in some time," coach John Fox said. "So far so good. Any time you get starters back you're encouraged, so it was good to have both of them back."

Williams has been coming on strong -- he has run for 209 yards and two scores in the last two weeks -- and should see the bulk of the carries this week with Stewart nursing a foot injury.

Stewart did not practice again Thursday, but Williams said he expects his buddy to play.

"Hopefully we'll get the starting five out there," said quarterback Jake Delhomme. "We've invested a lot of time and work all throughout the off-season and training camp with those guys and we'd like to get everybody out there."

Delhomme doesn't believe there will be any big transition, even through Otah and Kalil have been out for a month.

"No, I don't think so," he said. "We're around each other so much this time of year, they're in meetings, they're hearing calls, they're hearing everything that needs to be made, and there is kind of a language that these guys kind of communicate."

SERIES HISTORY: 4th regular-season meeting. Raiders lead series 2-1. In the last meeting on Nov. 7, 2004, Jake Delhomme threw for 299 yards and three touchdown passes. The Raiders won the only matchup in Oakland 52-9 in the final week of the regular season in 2000 on their way to the Super Bowl. That sure seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?