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FOXBORO -- The battered Buffalo Bills, 16-1/2-point underdogs to the powerful Patriots, took a 7-3 lead into the second quarter thanks to a couple of first-year players -- backup quarterback Trent Edwards and rookie running back Marshawn Lynch.
The Pats got off to a good start, turning a fumble recovery into three points when Asante Samuel, coming in untouched on a corner blitz, sacked J.P. Losman, the Bills' starting QB, from behind, knocking the ball loose.
Considering that New England gained possession at the Buffalo 35, the fact the Pats had to settle for a field goal was a plus for the Bills. It was the first time this season that the Patriots failed to score a TD on their first possession.
Losman had been hurt on Buffalo's first play from scrimmage when Pats nose tackle Vince Wilfork was penalized for diving into the QB's left knee. He stayed in the game, but did not return after being hit by Samuel.
That brought Edwards, a 6-4, 231-pounder drafted in the third round out of Stanford, off the bench for Buffalo. Unlike San Diego's young quarterback, Philip Rivers, last Sunday night, who had that ''deer in the headlights'' look when surveying the New England defense, Edwards efficiently directed an 80-yard scoring drive that was capped by a punishing, 8-yard TD run on third down by Lynch, taken 12th overall in the first round by the Bills out of the University of California.
Only 5-11, the 215-pound Lynch is a powerful runner who was voted Offensive Player of the Year in the Pac-10 Conference last season, when he averaged 6.1 yards on 223 carries, rushing for 1,356 yards and 11 TDs. He had 1,246 yards and 10 yards in 2005.
Edwards threw for 1,027 yards and 6 TDs for Stanford last year before going down for the season with a broken ankle in the eighth game.
-- JIM DONALDSON
