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BUMBLING, BATTERED BILLS LET GAME BOUNCE AWAY

ORCHARD PARK -- It only took roughly a month, but it sounds like Buffalo coach Gregg Williams is starting to feel like the legions of Bills fans who, over the last 15 years, had grown unaccustomed to truly lousy football.

Asked if his team's effort during Sunday's 20-3 slap-down at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers was disappointing, Williams fractured his grammar, but also smashed the everything-will-be-fine demeanor he displayed after Buffalo's first two one-sided beatings.

"Not disappointing -- pissed," Williams spat. "Not frustrating -- pissed."

The Bills certainly gave him plenty of cause for anger:

• The offense sputtered badly. Again. With rookie Marques Sullivan at right tackle and two different left tackles (Kris Farris and Jon Carman) with no previous NFL starts between them, Buffalo managed just 52 yards rushing and 173 overall.

  The Bills' stopped their own best drive of the day. After moving 54 yards in nine plays to a second-and-goal inside Pittsburgh's 1-yard line, Sullivan moved early, pushing Buffalo back to the 5-yard line.

  Rob Johnson's second-down pass to Travis Henry was tipped. On third down, Eric Moulds broke free at the goal line, ready to take in a sure touchdown.

  Well, almost.

  "I rushed it," Johnson said. "It was a quick out on the goal line and I threw it probably a step too early."

  Johnson's misfire ended what turned out to be Buffalo's last, best chance for seven points. The Bills settled for Jake Arians' 23-yard field goal just before halftime and never got anywhere near the end zone again.

• The lone offensive bright spot for Buffalo in September, running back Travis Henry, had his worst game as a professional. You can't blame him for the gum-and-string offensive line, but you can't blame anyone else for the fumble that proved decisive.

  The Bills had driven to Pittsburgh's 35-yard line late in the first quarter when Henry got stacked up at the line and stripped of the ball by Steelers safety Brent Alexander. The ball bounced to Pittsburgh cornerback Dewayne Washington, who took it, and the game, 63 yards for the only touchdown of the first half.

  Henry managed just 11 yards on as many carries the rest of the way, finishing with 30 on 17 attempts.

• Buffalo's defense contained Pittsburgh through the first half, but as it did in the home-opening loss to New Orleans, the Bills' defense crumbled after intermission. Particularly against the run.

  Jerome Bettis ran for 76 of the Steelers' 101 rushing yards in the second half. Along with soft underneath pass coverage and a non-existent pass rush helped Pittsburgh post 10 fourth-quarter points, while keeping the ball for 11:49 of the final 15 minutes.

• Given the state of the Bills' offense, staying on the sideline may not have been such a bad thing. Only one of Pittsburgh's four sacks came after halftime, but that was mainly because Johnson had to take off running as soon as the ball was snapped.

  With Johnson getting no time and his receivers achieving no separation, he finished 13-of-22 passing for 104 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. A hit along the sideline midway through the fourth quarter aggravated a hip injury suffered last week in Indianapolis, bringing on Alex Van Pelt for the game's final series.

  Johnson hobbled through the locker room after the game, grimacing, and didn't sound much better.

  "We've got offensive personnel enough to put up more than three point a game," Johnson said. "That's embarrassing."

• With Buffalo's injury list growing by the quarter, more embarrassment looms. When Kris Farris, who was filling in for John Fina at left tackle, went down with a broken leg in the second quarter, on came Jon Carman.

  If you've never heard of Jon Carman, don't feel bad. Until Saturday, he was on Buffalo's practice squad. A day later, he was protecting Johnson's blind side.

  Forget Johnson's other problems for a moment. Unless offensive line coach Ronnie Vinklarek and offensive coordinator Mike Sheppard can turn a bunch of very large young men better suited for construction work into a cohesive unit very quickly, it won't matter if Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas are time-warped forward from 1991.

• And even if that happens, the Bills haven't shown that they can stop a decent offense. Pittsburgh is significantly less than decent, especially when Kordell Stewart is trying to get the ball within five yards of a wide-open receiver, and the Steelers still mounted three scoring drives.

  As was the case in Week 1, the last touchdown was the worst. Unlike Ricky Williams' carefree 19-yard romp to cap New Orleans' 24-6 win, a few Bills defenders actually touched Chris Fuamatu-Ma'fala on the 22-yard scoring run that gave Pittsburgh a 20-3 lead. They just didn't do it very hard.

• Befitting the day, the closest the Bills came to a statistical highlight resulted from an ugly, unproductive play.

  Fullback Larry Centers became the first running back in National Football League history to catch 700 passes. But he got dumped for a 3-yard loss on the play, Johnson's last of the game.

  The milestone didn't mean much to Centers. Not on a day when the Bills were unwilling, or unable, to seize a

  victory that was there for the taking for more than three quarters. "They did everything but gift-wrap that game for us," Centers said. "Thanks, but we've got to take advantage of that. We've got to make good on that."

  And what does Buffalo's inability to do that mean for the long haul?

  "I don't know," Centers said. "I don't know."