BILLS NEED THE LESS-TERRIBLE BLEDSOE

Despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary, Mike Mularkey spent the week insisting that Drew Bledsoe deserves to keep his job for at least one more game.

Now, the question becomes whether we see the Bledsoe who did a reasonable impersonation of himself in Buffalo’s last three home games, or the Bledsoe who conjured memories of Gary Marangi and Vince Ferragamo in his last two road appearances.

The Bills play host to the St. Louis Rams this weekend, so the odds are that Bledsoe won’t further establish his place amongst the least competent quarterbacks in the franchise’s history.

That’s about the best the Bills can expect from their “franchise quarterback” these days, the fellow who cost them a first-round draft choice and an enormous pile of cash – that, if everything goes just right, he doesn’t complete botch any chance they have at winning.

Mularkey said he’s sticking with Bledsoe because he gives Buffalo its best chance at victory. That’s a far greater statement on the readiness of J.P. Losman than endorsement of Bledsoe’s vanishing skills.

Yes, Losman was injured, his broken leg preventing him from practicing for nearly two months. But, um, what was he doing during all those weeks he wasn’t on the field? Did offensive coordinator Tom Clements and quarterback coach Sam Wyche forbid the quarterback their boss, Tom Donahoe, traded up to get from looking at a playbook until that broken bone healed?

Yes, tossing Losman into such a situation might not have been the brightest move of Mularkey’s brief tenure as head coach. But he didn’t just look lost. Losman looked terrified while fumbling, throwing an interception and getting sacked within a five-play span, one of which was a handoff.

The last time a Buffalo quarterback proved so inept while playing at New England, Billy Joe Hobert got cut a couple days later.

So, from all appearances, Losman’s not ready. Starting him too soon is far more likely to stunt his development than accelerate it.

But that means another seven weeks of watching Bledsoe stumble around in denial, trying to force the ball through double coverage?

If Mularkey and his offensive coaches are actually more worried about the “best chance to win” instead of simply propping up their doddering quarterback, they should at least consider the Shane Matthews option.

OK, so he’s not much. Matthews has never started even half his team’s games in a season, and he played on some pretty quarterback-challenged squads. He is, however, more mobile than Bledsoe, has a career interception percentage of 2.8 (Bledsoe’s is 4.1 this year), and tends to throw the ball away rather than toss it up for grabs or take a sack.

At his best this year, Bledsoe has been not terrible. Matthews is certainly capable of not terrible. At this point, Buffalo’s coaches have to be concerned about psyches other than Bledsoe’s. The Bills ultimately got dominated in all phases of the game by New England on Sunday night, but were on more or less even terms for most of the first quarter.

Until Bledsoe launched a prayer into double coverage. With the Bills at midfield. Trailing only 3-0. On first down.

That bit of misguided bravado punctured the offense and defense alike, and the rout was on.

This Sunday’s main subplot involves which Rams will show up. The softies who somehow got knocked around by the previously winless Dolphins in Miami on Oct. 24 and at home by New England two weeks ago, or the tough guys who belted the Seahawks in Seattle last week?

The forecast calls for a decent day -- about 50 degrees and cloudy, but no showers after the morning -- in Orchard Park on Sunday, so Buffalo probably won’t have the weather on its side.

If you could wipe out the memory of the debacle seven days earlier, this would seem like a pretty good spot to take the Bills, who are 1.5-point underdogs. But you can’t. And neither can they. Particularly when they look out there and see No. 11 doing his best not to screw things up. Rams, 24-13.

Dallas at Baltimore (-8): The Cowboys have a quarterback situation similar to Buffalo’s, but showed against Philadelphia that they have much bigger problems than Vinny Testaverde. Ravens, 26-7.

N.Y. Jets at Cleveland (-1): The Jets bounce back as the Browns continue to flounder. Jets, 28-20.

Pittsburgh (-4) at Cincinnati: Yardage ranking are the most-overused, and least-meaningful, stats in football, but the Steelers are No. 2 in the league in rushing and No. 2 in stopping the run. That’s pretty tough to beat. Steelers, 23-6.

Indianapolis (-7.5) at Chicago: The Bears’ defense cools down Peyton Manning. A little. Colts, 28-24.

Detroit at Minnesota (-7.5): If the Vikings can’t win this one against the slumping Lions, they might not ever get one without Randy Moss. Vikings, 34-24.

Arizona at Carolina (no line): Jake Delhomme is questionable, hence no point spread. The Cards’ defense is playing well enough that it may not matter if Jake makes it. Cardinals, 19-13.

Tennessee at Jacksonville (-3): These are officially no longer the Titans we’ve all come to know. Jaguars, 23-17.

San Francisco at Tampa Bay (-7.5): Just when you think the 49ers can’t get any worse, they do. Bucs, 34-11.

Denver (-4) at New Orleans: Baseless Hunch Pick of the Week. Saints, 30-28.

Miami at Seattle (-10): The Jim Bates Era begins much as the Dave Wannstedt Era ended. Badly. Seahawks, 37-14.

San Diego (-3.5) at Oakland: Bonus prediction: Bledsoe wears the Silver and Black in 2005. Chargers, 40-23.

Atlanta (-2.5) at N.Y. Giants: Eli Manning is going to get a very rough introduction to the NFL. Falcons, 21-5.

Washington at Philadelphia (-10.5): Let’s see Gregg Williams figure out a way to stop Terrell Owens. Eagles, 27-10.

Green Bay (-3) at Houston: The Packers are putting it together, while the Texans are starting to remember who they are. Packers, 33-25.

New England (-3) at Kansas City: Time to stop waiting for the Chiefs’ defense to get it together. Patriots, 41-30.

Last week: 8-6 overall, 6-8 against the spread. Season: 89-55 overall, 75-67-2 against the spread.