The defense wore down, but it never quit. Even late, when Pierre Thomas was gashing the Bills for some nice-sized gains, Buffalo would come back with consecutive stops. They played hard and aggressive within reason, most of the time (More on that later, Kawika).

To be fair, the offense didn't quit either, it just looked that way. It was a performance so awful that I texted a co-worker to see how windy it was at the stadium. He said it wasn't, just breezy.

So there's no excuse for that.

Let's talk 1-2....

-- Judging by early Twitter and Facebook messages, is this game really going to become a "blame Dick Jauron" thing? Seriously? You are absolutely allowed to dislike how the team has been under him, and think he's done a poor job overall, but please don't make the mistake of saying a different head coach would've engineered that offense to victory today. Just don't.

-- I know we've never had this discussion in Buffalo before, so let me be the first to ask if you think it's Trent or the offensive line? My, oh my, were they both awful.

For those who want to pick the former: "Trentative" Edwards came back this week, and Thurman Thomas "tweeted" during the game that Trent had options open downfield. Did you know that Edwards is 56-of-81 for 598 yards, 4 TD and 2 INT, but only 43 percent of his completions have gone to wide receivers?

For those who want to pick the latter: The line truly looked like a bunch of hacks this week, including a center who thought the shotgun was the handgun. They took a number of horrible penalties when they weren't forcing Edwards to be better in the pocket than Minnesota Fats.

Choose wisely. Again, I know it's a new argument around here...

-- The offense was summed up more than adequately by Trent Edwards tossing the ball to Fred Jackson at the line of scrimmage on 4th and 23 with just over two minutes to go. Trent, I know Fred's saved your bacon an awful lot this year, but put that ball up in the air!

EDIT NOTE: BEST TWEET EVER, courtesy of @bps21: Let's put the blame in Hangartner's hands so that he can lay it at Trent's feet.

-- Forget T.O.: Lee Evans is a hard-nosed, blazing fast receiver with terrific hands who gets open. Get him the ball. Now.

-- Jackson posted a more than respectable yards-per-carry, so why quit on the run game as early as they did? He ended up under 4.0 yards-per-rush, but that was due to a world-class awful counter play on the last drive. He continued to eek out extra yards, and I can't wait to see what he and Marshawn Lynch combine to do at Miami next week.

-- Geoff Hangartner forgot how to snap a football or something. He made Melvin Fowler look like Jeff Saturday. Maybe he was trying to save his quarterback some misery. Ai-yie-yie.

-- At first, I was an enraged as anyone with Jauron not challenging the Josh Reed play where it appeared his knee never touched the ground, but the absolute lack of outrage from anyone other than Reed and Lee Evans leads me to believe that his shoulder must have made contact with the turf when he was flipped over.

-- The Bills defense did not truly give up 27 points, regardless of what the scoreboard tells you. The offense also didn't score seven.

-- Still think Aaron Schobel is washed up?

-- Marcus Stroud was an absolute monster. For a guy to weigh as much as he does and not be a fat guy is remarkable. He should be a body guard in action movies.

-- I hadn't realized Sean Payton was "annoying sideline guy." So much for rooting for the Saints in the NFC, if it even was more than an inkling.

-- Dear Kawika Mitchell,

I know the game is fast, but try not to forearm shiver anyone in the helmet. It's illegal.

Sincerely,
An interested observer

-- Fourth-and-1 at his own 28-yard line with 7:22 to go -- and trailing 17-7 -- DIck Jauron punts. Apparently, the media is going to make this the greatest debacle in the history of football ever. A colleague actually used the phrase, "worst punt call ever." I'm not going to waste time finding worse ones -- maybe tomorrow morning -- but let's not get carried away.

-- Alright, I'm officially done with message boards, television and radio for the night. Terrell Owens wasn't trying hard enough? I had a couple angry reactions, like the deep ball thrown over the wrong shoulder and the one-handed stab at an errant out pattern throw, but replays proved my eyes wrong. As for body language, Lee Evans didn't look too pleased, either.

-- It's okay to like Edwards and still say he was awful today. It's all that's wrong with sports fanaticism to simply project this loss onto Jauron, Owens or Roscoe Parrish, whose fumble was terrrrrible.

-- Derek Fine isn't a fast runner.

-- Ryan Denney has as many touchdown receptions as anyone who's worn a Bills uniform in the last two years not named Lee Evans.

-- I usually use the rock and roll or indie rock music to calm down, but The Roots are doing a terrific job tonight.

Stat line I enjoyed:
-- Drew Brees, 16-of-29, 172 yards, 2 sacks, 0 TD
When you do that, you should beat the Saints. Whoops.

Stat line I didn't enjoy:
-- Trent Edwards, sacked four times
The offensive line was absolutely brutal in pass protection, and took a whole lot of bad penalties.

Game ball:
-- The defensive line
Forget the Saints pass rush, if the Bills 'D' went against its own O-line today, it would've knocked Edwards out in the first quarter. Heck, the defensive line even scored Buffalo's points.

Lastly...
Nothing. I'm done. I have to screen the Whiner Line in the morning, so please allow me to just watch the Colts/Cards and call it a night.

Next week:
The 0-3 Dolphins host the 1-2 Bills in Miami. AFC East football; it's faaaaaantastic (Thanks, Spike Lee). I think Perry Fewell's defense will handle the wildcat, and the Bills have the talent to take care of the Dolphins' defense. This team has done a good job of rebounding from misery in the past, and I think they'll show up next Sunday. Will they win? Yeah, but it'll be just as ugly as JP's win in Miami a few years back. Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson could both threaten 100 yards, and I think the passing game throws for around 125 yards. Bills 16, Dolphins 13.

Let's type about it: nick@wgr550.com