BUMBLING BILLS STARING AT 0-4

Even at 0-3, it’s tempting to look at Buffalo’s visit to the New York Jets as a potential turning point for a season headed decidedly south.

After all, the Jets are a fairly unlikely unbeaten team at this point, given their traditional method of digging themselves into an early-season canyon before scraping back into contention.

Travis Henry has averaged more than 100 yards per game in Buffalo’s last five outings against New York. The Jets pass rush is less than overwhelming, with only John Abraham totaling more than one sack (he has three). So Drew Bledsoe might actually spend a little more of the afternoon upright than he did during consecutive seven-sack Sundays against Oakland and New England.

The Jets are favored by seven points, making Buffalo a tempting pick to cover, and even finally get a break or two and win outright.

With the downright pitiful Miami Dolphins moping into town next week, it’s easy to talk yourself into going from 0-3 to 2-3 in a hurry.

But you have to win one before you can win two. And the Bills have already botched three opportunities, two of them coming in games they not only could have, but should have won, against Jacksonville and New England.

Both those games were at home. If you continually find remarkably innovative ways to lose -- such as fourth-down jump balls and naked bootlegs -- in front of the friendly folks in your home stadium, figuring out how to win in hostile territory is a mighty stretch.

And Giants Stadium (couldn’t the Jets get the name changed for their eight home dates?) figures to be booming, what with a constantly improving Chad Pennington and rejuvenated Curtis Martin leading Gang Green to a 3-0 start.

While New York’s defense hasn’t been dominant, the Jets make plays. With nine fumble recoveries and five interceptions, New York is already plus-11 in giveaway/takeaway.

For a team as mistake-prone as the Bills, that kind of math equals another loss, even if they cover the seven-point spread.

Not to mention 0-4. Jets, 20-17.

Miami at New England (-13): Hate to give away this many points in any matchup, but boy, the Dolphins stink. Patriots, 31-6.

Cleveland at Pittsburgh (-6): The biggest game between these two franchises since the rebirth of the Browns, with first place in the AFC North at stake, looks like a field-goal battle. Steelers, 16-13.

Oakland at Indianapolis (-9): If Oakland couldn’t win in Houston, there’s not much hope in Indy. Colts, 34-22.

Detroit at Atlanta (-7): Atlanta gets another softy as the Lions continue familiarizing themselves with reality. Falcons, 27-13.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans (-3): If getting humiliated by Arizona last week doesn’t fire up the Saints, it’s time for Jim Haslett to fine-tune his broadcasting skills. Saints, 28-21.

N.Y. Giants at Dallas (-3.5): Bill Parcells teaches former assistant Tom Coughlin another lesson. Cowboys, 19-14.

Minnesota (-4) at Houston: The Texans’ defensive backs spend an afternoon chasing Minnesota’s receivers into the end zone. Vikings, 38-20.

Jacksonville (-3) at San Diego: The Chargers get no respect. No respect, I tell ya. Chargers, 20-19.

Carolina at Denver (-5.5): Were the Panthers really in the Super Bowl last year? Broncos, 24-17.

St. Louis at Seattle (-7): Seattle has given up 13 points through three games. How do you pick against that? Seahawks, 24-6.

Arizona at San Francisco (-1.5): The Cardinals aren’t very good, but the 49ers are an outright disaster. Cardinals, 26-16.

Baltimore at Washington (-1): The Ravens could lose Jamal Lewis, their only semblance of an offense to date, to a year-long suspension after his guilty plea in a federal drug case. That shouldn’t be too much of a distraction. Redskins, 16-10.

Tennesee at Green Bay (-3): When choosing between two contenders for disappointment of the year, go with the home team. Packers, 33-24.

(Last week: 7-7 overall, 7-6-1 against the spread. Season: 38-22 overall, 28-30-2 against the spread)