Buffalo has chance to turn it around at Foxboro

	Kelly Holcomb has won two of three starts and has a 95.2 passer rating this year. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Oh, the troubles they've seen, just seven weeks into this season.

You know the AFC East team I'm talking about. Red, white and blue uniforms. Lousy against the run. Sieve-like red-zone defense. Key injuries and defections to contend with. A mediocre record that has hovered too close to .500, way under their expectations.

Things have gone so badly for Buffalo that the Bills probably even make the New England Patriots feel fortunate.

"We're not where we want to be; they're not where they want to be,'' New England quarterback Tom Brady said Wednesday, summing up the recent fortunes of the Patriots and Bills, who meet Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. "It's all going to come to a head [this week].''

I'm not at all surprised that New England and Buffalo are squaring off with the division lead on the line. But this isn't exactly a clash of the titans. As mortal as the two-time defending Super Bowl champs (3-3) have looked this season, the disappointing thing for Mike Mularkey's Bills (3-4) is that they have not taken advantage of this rare Patriots' vulnerability.

After Buffalo won eight of its last 10 games in 2004, I wasn't the only one who thought the Bills could actually push the Patriots this season. Buffalo was expecting to succeed with stellar defense and special teams, and hopefully efficient, game-management quarterbacking from first-time starter J.P. Losman.

But Losman got worse the more he played and was benched in favor of veteran Kelly Holcomb after a 1-3 start. As for the defense, which ranked second in total defense in each of the past two seasons, what in the name of Sam Adams is going on here?

The Bills are a middling 16th in defense, 31st against the run. Last week in Oakland, the one-win Raiders ran for 162 yards and four rushing touchdowns against Buffalo. Oakland, a team that hadn't cracked 20 points all season, scored 38 in the final three quarters of a shocking 38-17 rout.

Theories on Buffalo's defensive shortcomings abound, but it's apparent the Bills sorely miss block-eating tackle Pat Williams, who went to Minnesota in free agency, and Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes, who was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon in Week 3. Always candid Bills cornerback Troy Vincent acknowledged as much this week.