FOXBORO — “They have a style of play that is very distinct.”

“They will be hard for us to get ready for in a short period of time. We’re going to have to work awfully hard at it this week.”

“They’re as good as anybody in the league [on special teams] and they’re good at everything.”

Reading these quotes, spoken this week by Bill Belichick, one might think he was talking about San Diego or Indianapolis or another top team in the NFL.

But Belichick said those things about the Buffalo Bills.

The Buffalo Bills are 0-2 and have managed to put just 17 points on the board, to 41 for their opponents.

One of Belichick’s tenets is that his team does not do or say anything that might become bulletin-board material for their opponents. He leads by example on this point, as week after week he espouses the virtues of the club New England has coming up on the schedule.

It doesn’t matter the record or talent. Look at what Belichick said about the Chargers last week: “They do a lot of things well, so everything is a problem.”

See a pattern?

It’s not that Belichick should stand in front of the microphone and trash bad teams. It is admirable, however, that he can get in front of a mic and make what could be the biggest mismatch of the season — New England is a 16 ½-point favorite — sound like an AFC championship game.

Even before acquiring Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss, Wes Welker, et al, the Patriots had won seven in a row over Buffalo.

Now that they’ve dismantled the Chargers — thought by many to be a Super Bowl contender — it’s easy to think that Matt Cassel or Matt Gutierrez might be doing a little more than just taking a knee at the end of Sunday’s game.

The Bills spent big money on free-agent offensive linemen Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker and drafted running back Marshawn Lynch, but quarterback J.P. Losman is averaging an anemic 96.5 passing yards per game (worst in the NFL) and Buffalo is gaining just 107 yards on the ground.

They’re struggling even more on defense.

Starting defensive lineman Ryan Denney, corner Jason Webster, safety Ko Simpson and linebacker Coy Wire are out indefinitely with injuries; another linebacker, Keith Ellison, is also out.

With players missing in every defensive unit, the Bills are having trouble stopping the run and containing quarterbacks — they are next-to-last in the league in total defense, allowing 445 yards per game. More than 177 of those are rushing yards.

Still, Belichick finds positives to point out.

On Wednesday and yesterday, he emphasized Buffalo’s special-teams unit, which is solid, and has been for a few years.

Led by Pro Bowl punter Brian Moorman, who is averaging 43.7 yards per punt, the punt-coverage unit for the Bills has kept opponents to less than four yards per return.

And kickoff returner Terrence McGee is helping Buffalo get favorable field position with his 26.3 yards per return.

Still, however, there’s not a lot to like when you look at the Bills’ numbers.

But in public, at least, Bill Belichick will build up Buffalo like it’s the 1984 Bears.

“We’re going to have to spend a lot of time getting ready for them. Defensively they have an awful lot of quickness. They rotate those defensive linemen and they keep them pretty fresh in there. They’re fast. They’re very active,” he said.

“They have a lot of really good players on special teams. They play very well. They’re an explosive team there. Offensively they have very good skill players. Their receivers are outstanding. The tight ends are solid.”

Maybe he has a career as a life coach when his days as a football coach come to an end.

smanza@projo.com