01:00 AM EST on Monday, October 31, 2005

FOXBORO -- This one would have been hard to explain. Coming off its bye week, New England had the Bills in their own house and their defensive conscience coming back. The Patriots had a mighty struggle but they survived against the Bills and move to 4-3.

When the Patriots had the ball

The Pats barely had it at all in the first half. And when they did, they didn't do a heck of a lot with it. Working against a Buffalo defense that was shredded by the Raiders last week and has struggled all year, the Patriots couldn't get out of their own way (112 yards in the first half). Things changed after the break. Tom Brady, who wasn't on top of his game early, came out and drilled a touchdown pass to Deion Branch after Corey Dillon softened the Bills defense up with two strong bursts up the middle. Brady's throw to Branch after Rosevelt Colvin's strip sack late in the game was timely and Dillon's bullish run through the middle on a bad ankle for the score was gutty. Statistically, New England was efficient enough (Brady was 13-for-20 for 177 yards and a score after 55 minutes) and Dillon had 68 yards on 14 carries after coming in for Patrick Pass. New England's third-down struggles (1 for 6 entering the third) really hurt.

When the Bills had the ball

Tedy Bruschi or no Tedy Bruschi, the Bills were intent on running Willis McGahee all night long. For the most part, he rewarded them, ripping off 136 yards on 31 carries in the game's first 57 minutes. Even though the Pats reshuffled their linebacker corps -- deactivating Chad Brown, practically benching Monty Beisel and using Bruschi and Mike Vrabel inside, McGahee found yards up the middle and on the edge where the tackling by the corners (Asante Samuel in particular) was shoddy. But the coverage was even worse. The Bills went 7-for-14 on third down and Kelly Holcomb was 19-for-32 for 251 yards. Had it not been for the huge play by Rosevelt Colvin (late strip sack), the Pats would be mourning a loss today.

Special teams

A delay of game on a field goal? And a miss on the ensuing attempt from five yards further away after the first one went through. Very un-Patriotic. That all happened to Adam Vinatieri before the half as he missed a 44-yarder after hitting a 39-yarder that would have tied it. Buffalo's Rian Lindell hit a pair of field goals but missed a 46-yarder. Otherwise, the return games were non-descript.

Coaching

The Patriots had two weeks to prepare for a home game against the Bills -- a team with a career backup running the show at quarterback. And they couldn't get Buffalo off the field. Worse than that, the Patriots offense was sluggish until late. Tough night all around but -- again -- Colvin saved the Patriots' bacon.

Intangibles

The Bruschi Bump didn't last all night. It helped, certainly, but there wasn't an unbridled rush of emotion that swept New England to this win. The Patriots are simply out of sync right now and the return of one player is not going to salve the issues that -- while curable -- are afflicting it on both sides of the ball.