Season-opening flop back in focus

The only thing good about that game was that the Patriots couldn't possibly play worse. They had no idea way back on Sept. 7 that it would get this good: 11 wins in a row, the AFC East title, a chance for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. What they did know was that it could only get better.

The theme for this week is setting up to be "better," as in, play better than the first time. That shouldn't be too difficult.

"Hopefully, we can play a little more competitively than we did the last time we faced them," Belichick said yesterday, having moved on from his team's 21-16 win over the Jets Saturday night. "That's objective No. 1. At least make it a game."

The first meeting wasn't much of a contest after about 17 minutes. The Bills scored on their first two possessions and led, 14-0, early in the second quarter. Three minutes later things went from bad to worse, when Sam Adams's interception return made it 21-0. From there the Patriots could only try to get back in it. Instead they got run out of Ralph Wilson Stadium.

New England's defense, even with Lawyer Milloy on the Bills sideline, didn't play all that poorly. Sure, Drew Bledsoe and Eric Moulds exploited temporary safety Antwan Harris with a 49-yard completion. But the Bills only averaged 3.2 yards per carry, and Bledsoe's quarterback rating wasn't off the charts (83.9). Tom Brady, on the other hand, endured one the worst games of his career, throwing four interceptions and finishing with a rating of 20.4. That was actually an improvement from the first half, when he completed 4 of 11 passes for 19 yards and 2 interceptions. Rating: 5.3.

The Patriots can honestly say they beat themselves that day.

"I think almost half of our plays in the first 40 plays were negative plays: sacks, turnovers, penalties, some version of all of those," Belichick said. "Almost half the time we were going in reverse instead of going forward. That's not what we're looking for. We gave up 50-yard completions, pass-interference penalties, penalties in the kicking game, you name it. You can take your pick."

Belichick didn't then and clearly doesn't now buy into the theory that Milloy's release five days before the game had an adverse emotional effect on his team. "I thought we didn't play well out there and we didn't," he said. "I'm not that sharp, but I can figure that out."

The Patriots have managed to figure things out since the Buffalo debacle, winning 13 of their next 14. The Bills, meanwhile, went the other way; they're 6-9 after a 2-0 start that had many calling them a Super Bowl contender.

Buffalo is coming off a 20-3 home loss to Miami Sunday, a game in which the Bills, playing without three starting offensive linemen, committed four turnovers, including three lost fumbles (they recovered two more), and averaged a paltry 2.6 yards per carry. The Bills' offensive struggles have overshadowed their second-ranked defense.

Of course, that's no comfort to Belichick.

"I don't care about that," Belichick said. "I don't care what happened last week. They took the Titans right down to the wire, it came down to the last play. They had several other big wins this year, none bigger than ours.

"It's not really about how they match up against somebody else. It's how they match up against us. We're playing them. That's what counts. The last time they matched up pretty well. Like I said, we're going to need to be able to play more competitively than we played the last time."