Bills putting ugly loss behind them
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

The only way to get past a soul-sucking, gut-wrenching, humiliating, manhood-crushing, demoralizing kick in the backside like the Bills took Sunday night is to forget about it, move on and never talk about it again.

And that's exactly what all the players and coaches had to say following the 56-10 walloping they took from New England.

Inside the somber locker room at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Bills all spoke in low tones with sullen eyes. They all shook their heads in disbelief as New England scored seven touchdowns on its first seven possessions to thoroughly dominate the Bills at home. Some players even laughed at the outcome, unable to comprehend how that's even possible in the National Football League.

"It's very frustrating. But we're not embarrassed," said strong safety Donte Whitner, who got plenty of work in the backfield as Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 373 yards and five touchdowns. "Things happen, mistakes happen and games like this happen, and we have to suck it up. We still have six games to go. We're still going to make a playoff push and that's what we're going to do."

The most common words thrown around were ugly, incredible and plenty that aren't fit to print.

Yes, the best thing to do is move on to this week's game at Jacksonville and put the Patriots in the rearview mirror as quickly as possible.

Working with perfect efficiency, the Patriots didn't punt until the fourth quarter, after the starting offense had been pulled from the game. That took away one of Buffalo's best weapons, Roscoe Parrish, who ranks third in the league with 330 return yards and ranks second with his 19.4 yards per return.

This game broke the franchise record for worst loss, surpassing a 43-point failure to the Baltimore Colts in 1971. You know that stinks for a team that had won its four previous games and climbed back into the playoff talk in the AFC.

"It hurts," said quarterback J.P. Losman, who completed 15 of 26 passes for 173 yards and threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Parrish. "If it doesn't hurt, there is something wrong with you. You're not going to forget it that easily. But we have to realize we could have changed a play here or a play there, but you have to give it to them as well. Hats off, they're a good ball club and have been for quite some time. And everyone else right now feels like everyone's playing catch-up."

The Bills reported to practice Monday looking to put all the ugliness behind them and get ready for the Jaguars. But still the heartache was there.

"We have six games to go in the season to determine if we go any further than that and that's our goal," head coach Dick Jauron said. "We are deeply disappointed in it, but we have to get by it real fast."

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com