Thrill Is Gone for Patriots

The resurgent New England Patriots are getting picky. Simply winning doesn’t thrill them anymore.

The Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-11, Sunday, moving above .500 for the first time in two seasons under Coach Bill Belichick and matching last year’s victory total.

But they didn’t play that well.

“Last year these would be types of games we’d lose,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “You’d always like to play great every week, but that’s not always the case in this league, as I’m finding out.”

There were smiling faces but few high-fives in the locker room after the Patriots (5-4) improved to 5-2 since Brady took over for the injured Drew Bledsoe.

“It was a struggle. It was an ugly game,” said Antowain Smith, who ran for touchdowns of one and 42 yards against the team he spent the last four seasons with.

It’s been an ugly season for the Bills (1-7) under rookie Coach Gregg Williams and quarterback Rob Johnson, who left the game with a right shoulder injury from his fifth sack of the game late in the fourth quarter.

He was to be examined when the team returned to Buffalo.

Williams could have used a couple of guys from last year’s team--Smith and Doug Flutie.

Smith ran for 100 yards Sunday, and Flutie spent three uneasy years sharing the Bills’ starting job with Johnson before joining San Diego this season. Johnson completed 14 of 27 passes for 167 yards before Alex Van Pelt threw a 17-yard pass to Peerless Price for Buffalo’s only touchdown with 2:43 left.

With the crowd chanting for Flutie, the former Boston College star, after Johnson’s injury, Van Pelt entered the game and followed his scoring pass by hitting Eric Moulds for a two-point conversion, making the score 14-11.

On the onside kick, two Bills touched the ball before New England’s Mike Vrabel recovered.

“This is hard,” Price said. “I’ve never been on a losing team before. I’m not used to it and I’m tired of it.”

With 1:52 left, Smith burst up the middle 42 yards for the clinching touchdown.

Smith had his first 100-yard game for the Patriots last weekend, when he rushed for 117 yards in a 24-10 win at Atlanta.