PITTSBURGH — The Buffalo Bills are not letting two miserable preseason failures deter

them in their use of the no-huddle offense.

Bills coach Dick Jauron said after Saturday's 17-0 loss to Pittsburgh he is committed to

the team's new offensive scheme despite the fact it has been shut out and produced a mere 10

yards a possession the last two games.

"I don't have any issues with the no-huddle," Jauron said. "If you call in plays [from the

sidelines], I've never really been able to figure out what the difference is [between huddling

and not huddling]."

The Bills controlled the ball for only 18:45 during the loss to the Super Bowl-champion

Steelers.

"There's no time of possession issue if you're getting first downs, no matter what you

run," Jauron said. "The clock keeps running when you have the ball. If you can't keep the

ball, it doesn't matter what you do."

Nevertheless, the speed with which the Bills hurried off the field Saturday raises concerns

about some of the matchups on the Bills' schedule. If you're facing a dominant defensive team

or a team with an explosive offense, is it wise to risk racing off the field and potentially

giving that kind of an opponent a majority of the snaps early in the game?

The Bills open at New England, which has both a dominant defense and an explosive offense.

Buffalo's third game is against New Orleans, which led the NFL in both yards and points last

season.

Does Jauron think exclusive use of the no-huddle is sound against those types of foes?

"Yeah I do," he said. "There doesn't have to be a hurry. We don't snap the ball every time

with 20 seconds left on the play clock or 30 seconds. A lot of times we snap it with four or

five. We try to vary it and change it up. I'm a believer that's not the issue. The issue is

we've just got to execute better. We've got to do a better job. I've got to prepare them

better or something. Because we're not giving ourselves a chance. In consecutive games, we've

put up points for the opponent. That's not a good thing."

The Bills' first-string offense has had 15 possessions in four games. It has produced no

touchdowns and one field goal. It has allowed five sacks and made five turnovers.

"They might need to huddle a little more," said Steelers linebacker James Farrior, who

returned an interception for a touchdown in the second quarter.

In the last two games — at Green Bay and Pittsburgh — the starters have

produced 111 yards in 11 possessions. The two previous games — versus Tennessee and

Chicago — the yardage production was better. It was 159 yards in just four drives.

Of course, it remains to be seen just how fast the Bills will try to run the no-huddle at

New England on Sept. 14.

However, the Bills' players acknowledged that the prime benefit of using the strategy comes

from running it at a fairly quick pace.

"We have a couple different modes to our offense," said quarterback Trent Edwards speaking

of the pace. "But you try to catch the defense where they don't necessarily feel comfortable.

I feel like once they don't feel comfortable, they're not going to do as much, disguise too

much, and that's kind of what the philosophy is behind that style of tempo."

Edwards praised the Bills' defense for its showing Saturday. The Bills' starters gave up

three points on Pittsburgh's first five possessions, then allowed a long drive to a touchdown

on the sixth.

"We talked about that when we first installed this style of offense," Edwards said. "We've

got to make sure we're not throwing our defense out there for 35 minutes out of the game. ...

It can be a great benefit to you but it also can hurt you a lot at the same time. So we have

to find that balance and keep our defense off the field ... but also keep the [opposing]

defense off balance like we're trying to do with the no-huddle."

Edwards has no touchdowns, three interceptions and a passer rating of 46.9 in preseason.

"There is area for concern," he said. "There is plenty of things we need to fix pretty

quickly. But I feel like we have a good group of guys who want to go in the right direction

who want to be coached, and that's the bottom line."

"He's going to pull through this; everybody has his back," receiver Josh Reed said of

Edwards.

"This is a brand new offense, and it's going to take a little bit to get our rhythm," said

tackle Langston Walker. "Unfortunately the last two games we just haven't had a rhythm. We go

in every Monday and work on it and that's what we're going to have to do this Monday."

"We have a little bit of time to clean it up here," said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. "But

this is a game we wanted to come out and play well. So obviously we're frustrated. That being

said, I'm confident. I think everyone in the locker room is confident with what the offense

can do with the players we have. We'll get it together by Monday night."

The Bills' players are eager to get receiver Terrell Owens back in the lineup. He has

missed the last three games with a sprained toe. All indications are he is close to full

health.

"We still have a few guys who are out — like T.O. on offense," Reed said. "So we

still have a week go before we get things going and we still have practice to do that."

"Getting Terrell back, I'm sure is going to give us some confidence and help," Fitzpatrick

said. "And we'll come out firing on Monday night [Sept. 14 at New England]."