Terrell Owens cracked a playful joke when asked if he was going to go to Los Angeles to catch a Lakers game during the Bills’ bye weekend. “Possibly. You never know. I’m definitely not going to Mexico, not going to Cabo,” Owens said. Of course, that was a reference to the firestorm that occurred in Dallas after the 2007 regular season ended and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo went to Mexico with then-girlfriend Jessica Simpson during a bye week before the start of the playoffs. Cabo San Lucas was their getaway location. The Bills had a second bye week practice in the field house Wednesday before taking off until Monday. … “I’m just going to kind of relax. I may go through Dallas and then go on to L.A. and just try to get a little relaxation in. I think at this point in time with the season, especially with this team, we’ve had so many injuries, this team needs a break. I think we’ve had a lot of guys dinged up a little bit. Maybe we can come back refreshed a little bit, and maybe that will be the key for us.”

I can remember when Schonert was fired about 10 days or so before the start of the season and he said that the offense wasn’t simple enough for Jauron, citing as one of the chief reasons he was shown the door. Well, now eight weeks later and fresh off a 31-10 beat down at the hands of the Houston Texans, it’s safe to say this offense is simple: there isn’t one.

Allow me for a moment to review Jauron’s comments about Schonert’s firing at the time. They went a little something like this: “It was just the lack of productivity and the direction we were moving. I just didn’t feel like it was going certainly where I envisioned it. Hopefully, it’ll provide a jolt, hopefully a jolt forward. I just didn’t feel like we were progressing and I didn’t get the sense that we were going to move forward. It was a decision I needed to make, I felt, and made it.”

We’ve all seen this movie before and by now we can close our eyes and collectively recite the ending. The defense plays their guts out and keeps the Bills in the game until crunch time. The offense fails miserably to match the effort of the defense. The defense is forced to put on the Superman cape, come flying out of the phone booth and save the day. But to no avail. By this time the defense is running on fumes and they can’t keep the flood gates from bursting open.

Some teams use hand out rally towels to their hands before a game, but if you ask me the Bills should hand out skunks for their fans to wave when the offense takes the field. The excitement of the day came early and vanished. The Bills’ status quo single offensive score came on a Terrell Owens 29-yard reverse in the first quarter. If your imagination stretches that far, the Bills took a 10-6 lead into halftime, and as the fourth quarter commenced held the lead 10-9.

Take away Owens’ second touchdown of the year, and the Bills did nothing. They were beyond inept and well past pathetic. For the second game in a row Buffalo registered nine first downs, only two first downs after halftime. Their first, first down of the second half came with about three and a half minutes to go in the game.

Let’s put to rest the vicious rumors right now: there is no quarterback controversy. Because the Bills don’t have a quarterback. Ryan Fitzpatrick passed for 117 yards and threw two interceptions. Most of his pass attempts were Trent Edwards-like short, safe five and six yarders. The sum of a couple of quarters would be greater than Fitzpatrick’s passer rating on Sunday. We already knew it, but in case anybody had any lingering doubts, Fitzpatrick’s not the solution either.

Marshawn Lynch had just 43 yards rushing while Fred Jackson eked out 28 yards on the ground. Owens had five catches for 39 yards, while Lee Evans had only two receptions for 29 yards. These are the Bills’ four playmakers, and thanks to a putrid decision making, crummy play calling, bad quarterbacking and a total disregard for the offensive line, this group has been rendered invisible for the much of the season.

Unfortunately the numbers get much worse. The Bills’ streak of games with 160 passing yards or fewer is now at six after Sunday. Buffalo’s 204 total yards also makes it six straight games in which they’ve been held under 300 total yards. Over this six game span, the Bills are averaging less than 240 yards per game, while giving 210 yards on the ground alone.

Third down conversions? Forget about it. The Bills were dreadfully 2-of-10. The time of possession on Sunday for Buffalo was 20:52. That stat right there tells you all you need to know. The Bills had their defense on the field for almost 40 minutes of a 60 minutes game. Is it a surprise to anyone that the Texans scored 22 points in the fourth quarter and outscored the Bills 25-0 after halftime?

Jairus Byrd continues to be a revelation in the secondary, now making it three straight games the rookie has intercepted two passes. Defensively in the first quarter, Buffalo forced three turnovers. It’s too bad that after a turnover the ball goes back to the offense. The Bills’ offense turned three turnovers into just seven points.

Just like against New Orleans, Houston wore down the Bills’ defense and eventually delivered a few devastating knock out blows. The Texans scored three touchdowns in the last 15 minutes of the game, all from running back Ryan Moats. Moats, who was inserted into the lineup after starting back Steve Slaton was benched in the first quarter after losing a fumble, had touchdown runs of 11, 3 and 1. Moats finished with 126 yards and three scores on 23 carries. Houston finished the afternoon with 439 yards of total offense. The Bills have now allowed three straight 400-plus yard games after allowing 425 yards to Carolina last week and 414 yards to the Jets two weeks ago. Just like the New Orleans game in Week 3, the Bills didn’t allow a passing touchdown. Quarterback Matt Schaub went 25 of 34 for 268 yards and two picks. The Bills defense has held both Drew Brees and Matt Schaub scoreless this season, but all the Bills have to show for it is two, 20-plus point losses.

So when Jauron decided to fire Schonert, was this the productivity he envisioned without Schonert? I guess it’s kind of balanced itself out. Jauron wanted a simple offense, and Schonert got the last laugh. That is, if he’s stopped laughing by now at what the Bills daftly describe as offense.

On Halloween weekend, the Bills disguised themselves as a team that had its sights set on .500, some (not yours truly) even believing a win over Houston would give the Bills a fighting chance at challenging for a wildcard berth. But as it usually is, reality was cold and unforgiving on Sunday. The two-game win streak was fun, but staying with the Halloween theme it turned out to be a trick. The Bills are comfortably back on course for a fourth consecutive 7-9 finish as they head into their bye week.

Depending on how much you like your quarterbacks in Buffalo, this may qualify as good or bad news; it appears that quarterback Trent Edwards is expected to return to the regular lineup shortly after the team’s bye week.

Apparently, Edwards – who suffered a concussion two games ago during Week 6 against the New York Jets - is progressing well and performing better with the required cognitive tests given to him and should resume with full practices soon.

The expected return of Edwards should provide a sense of relief if the numbers comparing him and second-stringer Ryan Fitzpatrick. As of this post, Fitzpatrick has completed 51.4% of his passes for 356 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions and is 1-1 in his two starts; meanwhile, Edwards has completed 59.5% of his passes for 985 yards with five TD’s and 6 INT’s.

The Bills’ already-long injury list grew longer Sunday as four more starters got hurt during a 31-10 loss to the Houston Texans. Right tackle Jamon Meredith was the first to go down, suffering a sprained right knee in the first quarter. The defense, which was already missing three starters, lost defensive end Aaron Schobel, outside linebacker Keith Ellison and free safety Jairus Byrd.

The Bills defense was dominated by the Texans offense all afternoon. Houston had three scoring drives of 72 or more yards and four that included at least 10 plays and took more than five minutes. The two possessions in the final eight that didn’t end in points were kneel-downs that ended each half.

“Toward the end of the game we let them run the ball down our throat,” Marcus Stroud said. “We’re much better than that. We fight harder than that. We just weren’t making it happen and it pissed me off. I’m a competitor, man. I never want to walk off the field and feel like somebody imposed their will on us and I felt they did that.”

Little known Ryan Moats led the Texans offense, as he replaced Steve Slaton, who was benched after a fumble, and ran for a franchise record three TD’s, all in the fourth quarter, and 126 yards. Houston scored on six of their last eight possessions, including four straight drives in the second half.

“Their offense had a lot of opportunities today,” said Bills strong safety George Wilson, who was credited with 15 tackles. “We started off good, produced some turnovers, got off the field on third down. But they kept hammering away at us. Even though they were experiencing adversity early in the game they stuck to their game plan, kicked some field goals to keep the game close and they were able to make the plays down the stretch in the kicking game and offense and defense as well.”

The Bills offense, without Trent Edwards at QB, was limited to 204 total yards. They did get a spark on a 29-yard WR reverse to Terrell Owens that put them up 7-0 in the first quarter. Little did they know that the score would be just about all the offense they would have on the day.

They had just 9 first downs, two in the second half, and were 2-for-10 on third downs. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was 15-for-23 for 117 yards with two picks and a QB rating of 41.4. The Bills led 10-6 at the half, and then were up 10-9 entering the fourth when the Texans exploded. Moats had three fourth quarter scores to put the game away.

“We need to be more physical and get off the field in those situations,” Bills middle linebacker Paul Posluszny said of the run defense. “We can’t let a team just consistently drive and take up all that time.” Houston did it just about all day long, and it was tough to watch.

The Bills will get a week off with a bye next Sunday.

Who covers ‘Awesome’ Owen? Daniels poses a very real threat against the Bills’ 10^th ranked pass defense.  It will likely be a contingent of safety George Wilson, linebacker Chris Draft and safety Bryan Scott, should Scott return from an ankle injury.  Whoever it is or whatever the game plan, the Bills will have their work cut out for them.  In his last three games, Daniels has 23 catches for 295 yards and three touchdowns.

Can Super Mario ring Demetrius’s Bell? Mario Williams meet Demetrius Bell.  First pick meet the 219^th pick.  Williams is developing into a premier pass rusher while Bell is just getting his feet wet starting at the tackle.  On paper, this has mismatch all over it and the advantage goes to Williams (duh).  But that’s why the game’s not played on paper.  Bell will probably get help from Andy Levitre, but if he can hold his own against Super Mario and keep Fitzpatrick from counting clouds all day, the Bills will be in good shape.

Road Warriors vs. Home Wreckers. Houston is 2-1 away from Reliant Stadium, averaging Xbox like numbers, almost 446 yards per game while scoring 27.6 points per game on the road.  Matt Schaub has thrown for 357, 371 and 392 respectively in three road games, while throwing for 10 touchdowns compared to only two picks. The Bills, however, haven’t had a lot of success at home.  The Bills are 1-2 and have lost two consecutive home games this season to New Orleans and Cleveland, while being outscored 33-10.  It’s been eight quarters since the Bills scored a touchdown at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Can Byrd ‘stump the Schaub?’ The reigning defensive rookie of the week, Jairus Byrd, looks to keep the magic alive against one of the AFC’s best QBs not named Brady or Manning.  Byrd recorded back to back 2-interception weeks against the Jets and Panthers and he’s got five picks in the past three weeks.  But Schaub’s no Mark Sanchez or Jake Delhomme.  While Sanchez and Delhomme might not combine to throw 16 TDs this season, we’re not at the halfway point of the season and Schaub’s already notched a franchise best 16 TDs.

Lee-der of the Pack. Your attention please.  We have a Lee Evans sighting.  Evans has caught touchdown passes in two straight weeks, and after catching just 12 passes and one touchdown in the first five weeks, Evans has caught nine balls for 143 yards and two scores against New York and Carolina the past two weeks.

6-19.  That’s Bills head coach Dick Jauron’s record against teams that had a winning record the week they played the Bills, according to Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News.  FYI, the Houston Texans are 4-3 entering this week’s game.

Since an opening day clunker against the Jets, Schaub has captained the Texans to win four of their last six, including two straight victories over Cincinnati and San Francisco. Schaub’s numbers on the year are gaudy. He’s already set a franchise record with 16 passing touchdowns, which leads the NFL. Schaub also leads the NFL with 2, 074 yards passing, and only Peyton Manning (313.3) and Philip Rivers (297.8) have posted a better yards per game average than Schaub’s 296.3.

In three road games this season, Schaub has thrown 10 touchdowns (4 apiece against Tennessee and Cincinnati) to only two interceptions. On the road, Schaub is averaging 373.3 yards passing. His passing yards total has increased in each road game, going from 357 against the Titans to 371 against the Cardinals to 392 against the Bengals.

In any defensive meeting on Wednesday afternoon, most of the discussion about how to stop or slow the opposing quarterback starts with stopping the run. But for Houston, their running game has been stuck on stop this season. The Texans rank 30th in the NFL in rushing averaging just 79.1 ypg, while second-year back Steve Slaton is experiencing a sophomore slump.

A year removed from setting the franchise record with 1,282 rushing yards, through seven games this season Slaton has 341 yards on 109 carries and two touchdowns. While Slaton has found tough sledding on the ground, he’s making up for it through the air. Slaton has 304 yards receiving and three touchdowns, averaging 11.3 yards per catch. He has successive games with a receiving touchdown and he’s caught a touchdown pass in three of the past four weeks. Two weeks ago in Cincinnati, Slaton was a nightmare out of the backfield, catching six passes for 102 yards including a 38-yard touchdown catch and run.

Slaton’s biggest problem this season has been ball security. Not counting quarterbacks, Slaton leads all players with six fumbles. He’s lost four of six fumbles, which puts him in dubious company with embattled Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell for second in the NFL in that category. Slaton has fumbled in five of the seven games thus far this season, including two against Tennessee in Week 2.

The bread and butter of the Texans offense remains getting the ball down the field and Houston’s two best horses to do the job are wide receiver Andre Johnson and tight end Owen Daniels. Johnson leads the NFL with 634 yards receiving, but Daniels’s name isn’t far behind. Daniels leads all NFL tight ends and ranks 10th in the league with 497 yards receiving.

He leads the team with five touchdown receptions, one better than Johnson. His five touchdowns equal his total output the past two seasons. Daniels is coming off a great game against San Francisco, catching seven passes for 123 yards, including a career-long 42-yard touchdown.

While Johnson remains one of the game’s best wide receivers, he won’t be 100% healthy entering Sunday’s game with the Bills. Johnson is nursing a bruised lung suffered in last week’s victory over San Francisco. He is listed as day-to-day, but expect Johnson to be ready to go against the Bills on Sunday.

The Bills turnaround the past two weeks starts with opportunistic defense, sprinkled with some bad quarterbacking. Two weeks ago, Buffalo picked off Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez five times and last week in Carolina, the Bills intercepted Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme three times. In their two straight road victories, the Bills forced a combined 10 turnovers.

Backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will start for the second straight game this week and since stepping in for injured starter Trent Edwards, Fitzpatrick hasn’t made anyone forget about Jack Kemp or Jim Kelly, but we’re not lumping him in with JaMarcus Russell either. Dating back to last season, Fitzpatrick has won five straight games, completing 21 of 47 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Both his touchdowns were to wide receiver Lee Evans, whom Fitzpatrick has developed a good rapport with. His first touchdown pass two weeks ago against the Jets tied the game at 13 and last week, Fitzpatrick’s second score to Evans put the Bills in front 14-2 against Carolina. Last week against Carolina, Evans had his best game of the year catching a season-high five passes for 75 yards and a score.

While the Bills went from stopping the run the first few weeks to stopping nobody since, the Texans have turned around their running woes. After giving up an average of 205.0 yards rushing per game the first three weeks of the season, Houston has stepped it up as of late.

Through the past four games, Houston has given up an average of only 48.5 yards per game while bottling up Cincinnati’s Cedric Benson and San Francisco’s Frank Gore. Two weeks ago, Benson was held to just 44 yards rushing on 16 carries, and last week Gore managed only 32 yards on 13 carries. Both running backs were held to under 3.0 yards per carry.

Fitzpatrick’s first home start for Buffalo could get the Bills back to .500 for the first time since Week 2 against Tampa Bay. While Houston has thrived on the road, Buffalo has not been able to take advantage of their home turf. The Bills are 1-2 at the Ralph, but in their last 2 homes games the Bills have scored a combined 10 points.

Buffalo’s last offensive touchdown at home came when Terrell Owens hauled in a 43-yard pass from Trent Edwards at the 9:16 mark of the fourth quarter. For those keeping score at home, the Bills have gone eight quarters without scoring a touchdown at home.

Buffalo holds a 3-1 advantage in this series, but this will be the first meeting since 2006. The Bills won that Nov.19th contest three years ago, 24-21, in Houston. That was a memorable day for Bills wide receiver Lee Evans, who caught two 83-yard touchdown passes in the first quarter and finished the day with 11 catches for 265 yards and two scores. The Bills have won the past two meetings against the Texans.

Prediction: Buffalo 20, Houston 17. The Bills have won two straight on the road and now they return home with a golden opportunity to beat a quality Houston Texans team and get back to .500 for the first time since Week 2. Houston has been good on the road, going 2-1 so far this year. Even though Schaub is playing like his hair is on fire, something tells me the Bills will be ready in this spot. This could be similar to the game against San Diego at home last season, when the Bills found a way to bottle up a stout Chargers attack. I think the Bills get it done.

Buffalo Bills receiver Terrell Owens has a candid assessment of his numbers through seven games: “I mean they’re pathetic to be honest,” Owens said Wednesday as the Bills prepared for Sunday’s game against Houston. “Definitely, for myself it’s very, very frustrating. I hear a lot of people saying I’ve hit the wall, I can’t play any more, this and that. I mean, I know I can play. But that’s the thing. I understand what’s going on with this team.” Owens has 18 catches for 242 yards and one touchdown. It’s the slowest start of his 14-year career as a starter in the NFL.