ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -As if playing in what proved to be the most lopsided loss in Buffalo Bills history wasn’t bad enough.
On Monday, some 12 hours after the final whistle blew following a 56-10 loss to New England, Bills players had to go through it again by watching the prime-time debacle on tape.
The uneasy session was enough for defensive end Chris Kelsay to want to collect all the game film and burn it.
“Yeah, you’d like to,” he said. “I’ve never been a part of a game like that, which is embarrassing.”
Perhaps that’s not such a bad reaction if this experience provides the Bills the necessary sour-mouthed motivation to prepare for Jacksonville (7-3) on Sunday.
It has emerged as a make-it or break-it game that will go far in determining whether the Bills (5-5) can bounce back and stay in the AFC playoff hunt against a Jaguars team they’re chasing.
“We do get added motivation because of the way we lost. So we’re going to have some regrouping around here,” safety Donte Whitner said. “If we go and win that football game, people will pretty much forget about this loss.”
It’s happened once before this season.
Buffalo was all but counted out when it opened the year 0-3 following a 38-7 loss at New England, but rebounded to win five of its next six games.
Who’s to say it can’t happen again?
“At this point in our season, there’s very few people that thought we’d be 5-5,” coach Dick Jauron said. “We’ve got six game left and we’re looking forward to getting past this one.”
It helps, too, in understanding the Bills aren’t the only ones left smarting by a Patriots team that’s off to a 10-0 start, with nine of those victories decided by 17 points or more.
“We’re humbled, but we’re not alone,” Jauron said. “We just need to drop it.”
The loss ended a four-game win streak, a stretch in which the Bills defense had allowed a combined 48 points – eight fewer than Buffalo allowed Sunday.
Then again, none of those opponents had Tom Brady running the show.
Brady was near-perfect in surgically picking apart the Bills, throwing five touchdown passes, including four to Randy Moss, while engineering scoring drives on the Patriots first seven possessions.
The 56 points were the most scored by a road team in the NFL since 1973. And the 46 points was the worst margin of defeat for Buffalo, three points worse than a loss to Baltimore in 1970.
The Bills’ popgun offense couldn’t keep up, especially without its most potent threat, rookie running back Marshawn Lynch, who was out with a sprained left ankle.
Except for J.P. Losman’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Roscoe Parrish that briefly cut New England’s lead to 14-7 late in the first quarter, Buffalo mustered 145 yards of offense and eight first downs through the first 46 minutes.
Losman struggled but wasn’t entirely to blame, which led to Jauron announcing the fourth-year player will make his fourth consecutive start at Jacksonville.
“It’s another opportunity for me. I’m thankful for that,” said Losman, who lost his starting job once already this season to rookie Trent Edwards. “We got hit in the mouth pretty bad last week. But we’ve got another chance here to go on a run.”
The Bills’ final stretch isn’t an easy one. Except for a home game against still-winless Miami on Dec. 9, their other five games are against opponents currently at 5-5 or better.
“We’re approaching the next six games with the mind-set of winning all six, but at least five, because 10 (wins) will get you into the playoffs,” Kelsay said. “We want to put this one behind us. It’s in the past.”
Add A Comment