WEEKLY WARNING: I was at the game, so if I missed something that was pointed out on replay, or more easily viewed on television, I don't hold myself accountable. As always, these are gut feelings written as soon as I get the chance to sit down and write.

— That was the most satisfying mid-season win over a bad defense I've ever experienced. Besides the Chad Johnson injury, which I don't want to gloss over — it was a sickening form of deja vu in Ralph Wilson Stadium — everything was aces at One Bills Drive.

— Very difficult to do anything but sing the praises of J.P. Losman, but let's start with the offensive line. Still suspect as run blockers, but gave Losman all the time he could possibly want to operate. Just a fantastic job, and continued improvement from the Bills' most significant — not good or bad, significant — free agent signings since Takeo Spikes.

— That was one of Losman's most impressive starts as a pro, as he gave the Bills' brass almost everything they could've asked for:

*a fourth-quarter comeback
*closing out an opponent
*long passes
*10-15 yard passes
*check downs
*throwing to tight ends
*converting third downs
*squeezing the ball into small windows
*elusiveness against the pass rush
*improvisation
*time of possession
*passes into the end zone

All that was missing was a little more intelligent work when things broke down around him, like the interception and a couple other forced passes in the brutal wind at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Just a monster day.

— Perhaps most impressive was the first drive, when both his critics, supporters and — most importantly — teammates saw evidence of the player who was one of the NFL's top-rated passers in 2006. 38-, 19- and 8-yard completions to Lee Evans. A 10-yard run from Lynch. Not one set of downs made it to third. Granted, it was against the Bengals, but an inspiring performance considering how many eyes were dissecting that first drive.

— Just ran across this stat in a post-game write-up: Rian Lindell hit his 235th straight extra point, which is the NFL record for consecutive extra points to start a career. Surely a rough day for Tommy Davis, who set the record in 1965.

There can't be too many fans who don't have complete confidence in Lindell, who hasn't missed a big kick in a while after misfiring in the 2004 finale against Pittsburgh and last year against the Colts — a game in which Peyton Manning would've had time to mount a drive afterwards, anyway, but let's not live in the past.

— BEAST MODE! It was great to watch Marshawn Lynch get rewarded for his hard running style with a brilliant, tackle-breaking, 56-yard run to seal the victory late in the fourth quarter. Lynch is already one of my favorite backs to watch in the NFL, and he got a little of the Tomlinson treatment, completing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Robert Royal in the final quarter as well.

The halfback option was such a great call by the coaching staff, considering the Bills had run Lynch six-straight times to open that drive. Pretty nice throw from the rookie as well, and good to see that Royal didn't dive out-of-bounds. Yes, still bitter from last year.

— A rare off-day for the Bills coverage teams, chewed up by Cincinnati's Glenn Holt twice, once for a touchdown. Very surprised that Bobby April chose to kick to Holt late after avoiding him earlier in the second half.

— He'll get some amount of grief for a big drop — despite his scary injury — but Chad Johnson showed Orchard Park just how good of a receiver he is. Just three catches for 48 yards, but he demanded double coverage, and was all over the Bills secondary, who did a commendable job covering Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmanzadeh.

— Can't say enough about how the Bills defense didn't rattle after giving up 20-plus points for the first time since the Monday night loss to Dallas, Oct. 8. Very hard to get burned by play action when you hold a team to 28 yards on 17 carries. The defensive linemen and linebackers were stalwart against the run, and didn't miss too many tackles.

— Very impressed by the way Perry Fewell called the defense, yet again. A lot of pre-snap movement from the tackles and ends, as well as bouncing Donte Whitner in a lot of different spots, to challenge Palmer with several looks.

— Fourteen more tackles for Angelo Crowell, who is perhaps my favorite player on the defense. Took a liking to his solid tackling and superb instincts last season, and he's continued to impress, all but one week of 2007.

-- In terms of NFL parity, think about this:

This year, the three teams the Bills have beaten - Baltimore, Cincinnati and the Jets - have a combined record of 7-17. Last year, those three teams combined for a 31-17. Almost absurd. I take that back. It is absurd.

Here are the rest of our traditional features…

Stat line I enjoyed:
—Lee Evans, 9 catches, 165 yards, TD
Now, why in the world would Evans want Losman to quarterback this team? I still don't get it. Weird. Must make him a "bad teammate."

Stat line I didn't enjoy:
— Kenny Watson, 7 catches, 90 yards
I know it's a minor detail, but the Bills did not do a good job of depriving Palmer of his check down option out of the backfield. Thomas Jones and Marion Barber III had similar success against Buffalo in the past few games.

The official Steven Sadsack line of this column:
— Cincinnati's defense is pretty poor, but not that poor. Hard not to be happy with the contest,

Stat line that betrays itself:
— Palmer, 26/39, 271 yards, 2 TD, INT
Palmer had a nice day, and he's one of the best signal callers in the league, but 57 of those yards came in the garbage time drive to close the game. The Bills did a very good job against Palmer, who's one of those quarterbacks you wish was on your team.

Words of warning...
— It'd be nice for the Bills to crush Miami next week, allowing to Lynch to sit a quarter or two out. Through eight games, Lynch has 177 carries, putting him on pace for 354, a number that would've placed him second in the NFL in 2006. Larry Johnson led the league with 416.

Don't get me wrong, I love having a work horse who hates being tackled, but I also don't want to abuse it. Lynch is as exciting an athlete as the Bills have had, but he seems to get hit several times on each carry. I'd like to have him around for a few years.

Other NFL thoughts...
— 296 yards, Adrian Peterson. Really? Wow. This kid is so impressive, and is proving his doubters wrong by staying healthy. No one's questioned his ability — Peterson was downright freakish at Oklahoma — but collarbone and shoulder issues crippled some of his time for the Sooners. So far, so good for the 3-5 Vikings, who desperately need some steady quarterbacking.

— The Colts had the Patriots game in their hands, and choked it away. I've seen the Patriots play a lot this year, and they are one of the league's all-time best, but Indianapolis but the ball in New England's hands one-too-many times, including an undisciplined fumble by Peyton Manning on third down in the final three minutes. Now, I'm posting this column after the Patriots converted to send the game to the two-minute warning, so unless there's some Colt-magic, I don't think I'll have any editing to do.

— 19-17. That's the AFC's advantage in inter-conference play against the NFC. Detroit's absolute demolition of Denver made me look that stat up, and it's another number that would be .500 if the Bills didn't screw up Monday Night. No, I'm not forgetting anytime soon.

The running count…
Roscoe Parrish was injured, which may put his status for the running count in limbo for Week Ten, but can't take anyone off the list. Had a reader, Scott, suggest that I should be allowed to add players who weren't on the field at the beginning of the season, reasoning that those players hadn't let me down since they entered the spotlight. Another reader, Pat in Geneseo, said I should've taken Moorman off the list after the Jets game, but I told him I don't think it's right to retroactively remove someone, even if I think it might've been a mistake. Pat said I should be allowed to. Anyone agree? Shoot me an email and it could make the difference for Moorman, Derek Schouman, and George Wilson.
-Donte Whitner
-Brian Moorman
-Marshawn Lynch
-Roscoe Parrish
-Larry Tripplett
-John McCargo...

Next week
— Should be a blowout, especially if Losman's under center, but I bet the Dolphins keep it close, at least on the scoreboard. Buffalo 30, Miami 20.

—Get better, Kevin Everett. Pulling for Chad Johnson, too.

E-mail: nick@wgr550.com

P.S. I'd be remiss if I didn't invite everyone to join me in my annual celebration of "No Shave November." It's based almost solely on my belief that Thanksgiving dinner is better when the men at the table have beards. Yes, I'm that odd.