Eyes rested, problems to focus on

FOXBOROUGH -- With last night's 21-16 victory, the Patriots improved to 4-2 after bye weeks under coach Bill Belichick.

It was the third time in the last six years that the Patriots faced the Bills following a week off. They lost to the Bills, 16-13, in overtime in 2000, Belichick's first season as head coach, and topped the Bills last season, 31-17, after byes.

The Patriots were so up-and-down in their first six games that Belichick acknowledged he was unable to pinpoint an area or two to focus on during the bye week.

''There were a lot of things," Belichick said before the game. ''In the end, it's just trying to improve our football team.

''There's a lot of things that we feel like we can do better. Some things were modified, some things we're going to do a little more of, some things a little bit less. That may or may not apply in this particular game, but just kind of looking ahead based on the results of six regular-season games. There are some things that we want to maybe do a little bit more of, and there's other things that we thought might be a little better than what they have been production-wise, and we'll do a little bit less of those. That was kind of part of the bye week scenario."

Belichick spent much of the bye week concentrating on the defense, which ranks near the bottom of the league in several statistical categories. While individual breakdowns are always a part of bad defense, Belichick said the unit's poor communication and lack of togetherness has been more of a problem than the play of specific players.

''That's really what you're always trying to build toward, is to get everybody to work together as a unit, and that can always be improved," he said. ''It's always something that we stress and work on, and you're always trying to get to the highest point that you can on that. It's never going to be perfect, but you're always working towards that goal."

Through the first six games, the Patriots were 26th in total defense, 28th in points given up, last in turnovers forced, and last in defending the red zone.

''Our offense is good, but we can't expect them to go out there and score 30, 40 points a game," linebacker Willie McGinest said.

Seymour sidelined

The Patriots may have had linebacker Tedy Bruschi back, but they were without defensive end Richard Seymour.

Seymour, who missed the previous two games with a knee injury, had said he would play this week, but did not practice Thursday or Friday. Jarvis Green started in his place.

A surprise addition to the inactive list was linebacker Chad Brown, who had no reported injury last week.

Brown, who said earlier in the week that he had lost his starting spot at inside linebacker to Bruschi, was the team's leading tackler through the first six games, but admittedly toiled at the position at which he hasn't played in a decade.

''Nothing's guaranteed in life and football," Brown said last Wednesday. ''How much Tedy plays will have some effect on me, but I have no idea what it will be."

Brown thought he would play more outside linebacker when he signed with the Patriots as a free agent.

''All year long, I've played inside linebacker, but I've been asked to know all the linebacker spots," he said. ''When [the move outside] will happen, I have no idea."

He would not say he hasn't enjoyed his time inside, but joked about one job being more fun.

''Taking on guards or sacking quarterbacks?" Brown asked facetiously, giving descriptions of the job duties of the two positions. ''I make light of it, but I don't want them to think I don't love playing inside linebacker.

''When I came here, I didn't come here for personal glory. Not to say I'm going to the Hall of Fame, but I've achieved some personal success. I came here to be a part of a team and to fill whatever role it is, and win games.

''There's no ego involved. If you want me to bang on guards, I'll bang on guards. Give me the opportunity to rush the quarterback, I would love that."

Cornerback Randall Gay (ankle), safety James Sanders (ankle), and receiver Troy Brown (foot) were also on the inactive list.

Buffalo rookie linebacker Liam Ezekiel, a rookie from Northeastern, was inactive after playing in four straight games.

Looking for his kicks

Adam Vinatieri was hoping for more home cooking heading into last night's game, but he missed his only field goal attempt wide left from 44 yards.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, Vinatieri has hit 55 of 66 field goals at home, for a solid 83.3 percentage.

Vinatieri's work at home is even more impressive when looking at how opposing kickers have fared at Gillette -- in 52 attempts, they have made just 34, a 65.4 percent clip.

That ranks as the second-lowest percentage of any stadium in the league since 2002, behind Chicago's Soldier Field (25 of 41, 61 percent).

''There are a lot of reasons why this is one of the harder places to kick," said Vinatieri, who has hit 31 of 41 kicks (75.6 percent) from 30 yards or more at home. ''I'm fortunate enough to kick in this crap every day, so you get used to it and maybe start to figure out what the winds do and you get used to kicking in crappy field conditions."

Vinatieri said kicking at Gillette is a bit trickier than the team's old stadium.

''It's not biochemistry; it's really going out and trying to figure out what the wind will do -- and in the old stadium it was more constant," he said. ''[Gillette] can be a little more tricky because it's never the same. You pretty much knew what you were getting in the old stadium. Did that always make it easier? No, but at least you knew."

A job to tackle

The Patriots said one of the keys to slowing the Bills is keeping kick return specialist Terrence McGee in check. McGee entered the weekend leading the NFL in kickoff returns with an average of 34.3 yards, and needed only 22 yards to become the Bill's all-time leader. McGee has a streak of four straight games with a return of at least 40 yards. In two games against the Patriots, McGee averaged 30 yards a return, highlighted by a 98-yard touchdown Oct. 3, 2004. ''He's as good as you'll see in the NFL," Patriots special teams leader Larry Izzo said. ''He runs hard, has great vision, and is explosive and tough to bring down. It's gonna take 11 guys to bring him down, hopefully not, but in theory you need to have a lot of hats around him. I don't think he's the fastest guy in the NFL, but he sets up his blocks well, he's patient waiting for the holes to develop, and he's got speed that once it does develop he punches it. Last year he took one back on us and it was an issue of [poor] discipline, guys not doing their job and not tackling." . . . Buffalo quarterback Kelly Holcomb has been in the league five years longer than New England's Tom Brady, but he has spent much of his career as a backup. In fact, Brady, who including the playoffs has started 77 consecutive games, started more games in each of the past two seasons (19) than Holcomb has in his entire career (16). While Brady has a 9-0 mark in the postseason, including three Super Bowl victories, Holcomb has played in just one playoff game. He played well, however, completing 26 of 43 passes in posting the third most passing yards in a NFL postseason history with 429 yards and 3 TDs at Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card game in the 2002 season.

Playing a role

New England linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said there would certainly be an emotional lift from Bruschi's return. And that is not a bad thing. ''When you play a game that's as physical and emotional as football, really any sport for that matter, I think emotion plays into it," Colvin said. ''I don't think you can go out there and be a robot. You have to be under control, but emotion is important." . . . Last night's AFC East battle was the first division game for the Patriots this season, and it is the latest date for an opening division contest in franchise history. The previous latest came in 1980, when New England's first division game was against the Jets in Week 5 . . . Entering last night's game, the Patriots held a 49-40-1 record against Buffalo, its most victories against one team. They have 43 wins over next week's opponent, the Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts. New England has played Buffalo and the Jets' franchise 90 times (42-47-1), for its most-played series. Since the start of the 2001 season, the Patriots are the only AFC East squad with a winning record (20-6) in divisional games, besting the Jets (14-14), Dolphins (12-16), and Bills (10-18) . . . The Patriots began the season with four of six games on the road, but starting with last night's game have three of four at Gillette, where they have a 25-4 record all-time. The Patriots' franchise-record 21-game home winning streak ended vs. San Diego earlier this season.