Bills 'embarrassed, pathetic, whipped' in loss to Patriots

• Bills focused on stopping run but gave up 247 yards on ground
• Free agent Mario Williams not a factor for defense
• Up next for Bills: 3-1 San Francisco

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- "Whipped" . . . "pathetic" . . . "embarrassing."

The Buffalo Bills took one on the chin in a 52-28 loss to the New England Patriots at home Sunday, and they took it even harder in the locker room after failing to hold a 21-7 second-half lead.

The Patriots scored on seven consecutive offensive possessions in the second half. They ran the ball for 247 yards, and Tom Brady passed for 340.

"One of our goals was to stop the run," said Bills linebacker Bryan Scott. "Obviously it was an epic failure when it comes to that."

There wasn't much that couldn't aptly be described as an epic failure as far as the Bills (2-2) were concerned. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw four interceptions to make it 15 picks in five games vs. the Patriots going back to 2010.

"Yea, that was really embarrassing," Fitzpatrick said of the loss. "We have a lot of pride in this locker room, and right now we have our tails between our legs in terms of we got our butts kicked."

And things looked so promising for Buffalo in the first half. Fitzpatrick had two turnovers by halftime, but he also had touchdown passes of 24 and 20 yards to tight end Scott Chandler. But the run defense showed early signs of faltering, allowing 5.5 yards a carry.

"To be honest with you, they whipped us," said Bills coach Chan Gailey. "Bottom line, they whipped us."

Added linebacker Nick Barnett, "We didn't play well against the run. That was number one. It snowballed from there."

The Bills got little help from free agent prize pickup Mario Williams. The defensive end managed two tackles without a sack and very little pressure on Brady while being blocked by Sebastian Vollmer. Williams now has 1.5 sacks and nine tackles in four games.

Williams says the team needs to be harder on one another.

"Something's up," he said. "We've definitely got to come into the room, have a reality check and see what is going on. We need it. We definitely need it."

How's this for a wake-up call: The Bills host the 3-1 San Francisco 49ers Sunday. There is some good news for the Bills. Thanks to New England's 1-2 start and the New York Jets' loss Sunday, those teams, along with the Bills are 2-2 in the AFC East.