Stung by one that got away

"It was exciting for a while," Dillon said, before throwing his hands in the air. "Until the fumble. From that point on, I was humbled."

Dillon rushed for 79 yards on 19 carries and the touchdown. He also caught three passes for 23 yards. But the day was somewhat bittersweet for the running back. After the 31-17 New England victory over Buffalo, Dillon stewed about his one mistake, a fumble that could have been pointed to as the turning point had the Patriots lost.

After a Tyrone Poole interception and a Tom Brady bomb to David Patten, the Patriots found themselves poised to score a go-ahead touchdown. They turned to Dillon, the man the Patriots brought in this offseason for moments like this, a first-and-goal from the Bills' 4-yard line.

Dillon plunged ahead for 2 yards. On the next play, Dillon received another handoff, but slammed into a wall of Bills. Defensive end Chris Kelsay poked the ball loose and dived on it at the 4. When the Bills embarked on a 96-yard touchdown drive, Dillon had in essence given Buffalo a 14-point swing.

"Someone just reached in and knocked it out," Dillon said. "I don't know. That's two weeks in a row, and I, me personally, have to correct it.

"I run hard. Sometimes stuff happens. I've got to understand and be patient and hold my composure and stop being overanxious in certain situations, just relax and run the football. It's just trying to do too much. I just need to relax and execute the play."

Despite his disappointment, Dillon almost didn't learn his lesson. Before the Patriots scored the touchdown that put them ahead for good, Dillon nearly fumbled again in the shadow of Buffalo's goal post.

On first and goal from the 9, Dillon took a handoff and bruised his way to the 2. As Nate Clements tackled him, the ball leaked out of Dillon's hands and the Bills pounced on it. This time, though, Dillon was ruled down.

Bills coach Mike Mularkey threw his red challenge flag in disgust, even though the play could not be reviewed, since the whistle had blown the play dead.

On the next play, a Brady pass to Daniel Graham put the Patriots ahead, 24-17, with 11:17 remaining, and they wouldn't trail again. The play never would have happened if the referees sided with Mularkey, but Dillon maintained the right call was made.

"I was down," Dillon said. "I was just fighting for extra yards. It would have been a crying shame if they changed that around."

What's certain is that Dillon did fumble once for the second straight game, and that was enough to spoil an otherwise impressive day. Two weeks ago in Arizona, Dillon mishandled a pitch from Brady. The fumble was charged to Brady, though, and the Patriots scored a field goal on the drive.

Though he felt he let his teammates down again yesterday, Dillon didn't need to offer any apologies. His eyes said it all.

"They saw it on my face I was disgusted," Dillon said. "That's the worst thing, man. The last thing I want to do is let these guys down. There's no feeling like that, of letting your boys down. I'm still disgusted about it."

His teammates were willing to brush aside the fumble. After all, Dillon showcased the same punishing style he had all season, especially on his touchdown run, as he busted through several tackles before spinning into the end zone.

"Corey's just an awesome running back," Brady said. "You hand the ball off to him and then just turn around and watch most of the time. He makes guys miss, and he runs so hard."

In the end, though he was hard on himself for fumbling, Dillon savored what was most important -- the Patriots getting off to a 3-0 start. Since Dillon hasn't played for a 3-0 team since high school, his fumble won't overshadow that.

"Hell, no," Dillon said. "We won. Overall picture, we won. I don't care about no stats. I know we're getting on this plane and heading back to Boston winners."