Patriots driven to start this game quickly

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots running back Heath Evans was sitting in a team meeting Friday and all he could do was shake his head. At the front of the room, coach Bill Belichick was rattling off all types of statistics.

"No notes and he's up there mentioning all these different things about the first quarter, and I'm thinking to myself, `This dude is ridiculous,' " recalled Evans.

Ridiculous, of course, was meant in a flattering way because "he knows so much about everyone and everything."

The message Belichick was driving home was that the Patriots have been one of the league's slower-starting teams on offense this season.

"He's made it a focus for us this week," Evans said of the team's preparations for today's game against the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. "And on the flip side, he has given us every statistic from years past to this year about how well [the Bills] start [defensively]. Last time we played them, we found ourselves down 12 seconds into the game. So the emphasis has been on handling our business so we don't find ourselves in the same role most teams have found themselves in against this particular team."

One stat Belichick relayed to the Patriots was that the Bills have yet to allow a touchdown this season on an opponents' opening drive.

Meanwhile, the Patriots' opening drives haven't exactly been works of football art.

In the opener against Buffalo, quarterback Tom Brady was sacked on the first play, lost a fumble, and the Bills recovered for a touchdown. In games against the Jets, Broncos, and Bengals, the team punted on its opening possession. The lone opening drive that resulted in points -- a 35-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal -- came against the Dolphins Oct. 8, and that's a bit misleading because the defense provided a short field after recovering a fumble in Miami territory.

The final tally: 5 possessions, 3 punts, 1 field goal, 1 touchdown allowed.

"Bill was up there comparing us to the rest of the league on opening drives, and telling us where we need to be," Evans said. "It was an emphasis on what's gone wrong on the first drives, and how we can correct it."

The first quarter has been the least productive for the Patriots through five games. Of the team's 108 points, only 17 have come in the first quarter. The fourth quarter has yielded the most points (36), followed by the second (34) and third (21).

Brady said it will be imperative for the Patriots to get off to a better start against the Bills than they did in the opener.

"They're a fast-starting team," he said. "Being down 7 [points just 12] seconds into the year was not really what I was dreaming of the night before the game. So I'm glad we came back and won. I'm glad we overcame that. I think the few times we've gone up there and played really well we've gotten off to good starts."

As is often the case in Buffalo, conditions could play a significant factor, with today's forecast calling for rain and temperatures in the 50s. The Patriots were preparing for a slippery synthetic playing surface, reminding players to pack longer screws for their cleats.

In addition to the elements, the Patriots also are expecting to see a flurry of blitzes from the Bills, who feature an undersized but aggressive defense. The Patriots have allowed just five sacks on the season -- tied for the league low -- and three came in the opener.

Yet while the Bills have turned up the heat on opposing quarterbacks, they have struggled against the run in recent weeks.

Combined with the potentially wet elements, that could make this a game in which the Patriots' offense turns more to Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, who have helped the team to a No. 6 ranking in rushing yards per game (139).

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.