By JOHN WAWROW
AP Sports Writer
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.(AP) -- Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't sure
whether he'll remain the Bills starter once Buffalo comes off
its two-week break.
A bigger concern for the backup is for the Bills to use the bye
week to start fixing their anemic offense.
"We're glad that there's a bye week, because we've got a lot of
stuff to figure out," Fitzpatrick said Monday, a day after the
Bills stumbled through a 31-10 loss to Houston. "It was a tough
one to sleep on."
The sputtering output has been a seasonlong nightmare for the
Bills no matter who's started: Fitzpatrick or Trent Edwards, who
missed the past two starts after a concussion in a 16-13
overtime win against the New York Jets.
Edwards has been cleared to practice this week, but coach Dick
Jauron has yet to indicate who'll start when Buffalo (3-5) plays
at Tennessee on Nov. 15.
What's evident is that if the Bills intend to make a second-half
push to climb back into playoff contention, the team must
improve an offense that ranks among the NFL's worst.
Against Houston the Bills generated 204 yards of offense, the
fourth time they've been limited to under 250 this season. For
the second straight game, Buffalo managed just nine first downs.
On their first four series of the second half, the Bills failed
to register a first down and wound up losing the
time-of-possession battle by a little over 18 minutes.
"It's not just one thing," Jauron said, when asked to pinpoint
what's gone wrong. "It's always something. And we've got to stop
doing the somethings and make the plays."
Buffalo's offense has scored nine touchdowns this season, not
including punter Brian Moorman's pass to Ryan Denney on a fake
field goal in a 27-7 loss to New Orleans in Week 3.
The passing attack has been mostly grounded, despite the
presence of Terrell Owens, who ranks 51st in the NFL with 281
yards receiving, with one touchdown receiving and another
rushing. Lee Evans has 331 yards and three scores. And forget
the running attack, which hasn't broken 100 yards five times
this year.
"I couldn't tell you exactly what it is," running back Fred
Jackson said. "As a unit, we're just not functioning the way we
need to be."
An inexperienced and injury-depleted offensive line is taking
much of the blame. The Bills opened the season with three of
five linemen who hadn't previously appeared in an NFL game. That
number increased to four the past two weeks after rookie Jamon
Meredith started at right tackle in place of injured Jonathan
Scott.
The Bills' no-huddle attack also proved ineffective and was
scrapped two weeks ago. And the Bills opened the season with a
rookie coordinator, Alex Van Pelt, after Turk Schonert was
abruptly fired in September.
"Offensively, we're not getting it done," Owens said.
The offensive troubles also have affected Buffalo's defense, an
injury-depleted unit that's wearing down. That was evident
against the Texans, who scored 22 unanswered points in the
fourth quarter. A similar breakdown happened in the loss to New
Orleans, when the Saints scored 17 points in the final 10
minutes.
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