FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —

There were a lot of questions — make that concerns — about the Buffalo Bills'

offensive line. And why not with three starters who never took a snap in a regular-season

game.

It was enough to make one wonder if the Bills' coaching staff was of sound mind when making

that decision.

But for one game at least, the decision was a success.

Second-year left tackle Demetrius Bell and rookie guards Eric Wood and Andy Levitre held

their own against the New England Patriots' defensive front seven for most of a disheartening

25-24 loss Monday night.

Bell got the left tackle job when the Bills surprisingly released Langston Walker, who was

anointed as their guy after trading Jason Peters to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the coaching staff grew increasingly impressed with Bell, a seventh-round draft pick who

didn't play football at any level before 2005 and had only two years at left tackle at

Northwestern (La.) State. Despite a sore back that sidelined him for a couple of weeks in the

preseason, the Bills felt the time was right to give him a chance.

For the most part, Bell didn't let the team down Monday night. He made some nice blocks on

run plays and protected quarterback Trent Edwards pretty well until late in the game.

"There were a lot of things I could have done better," Bell said. "For the most part, I

finished every play and played every play. I didn't leave any doubts in my mind as far as

playing hard and as far as working my techniques. But towards the end I kind of got out of my

comfort zone. It was poor technique that got me beat. But overall, I had a hard-fought game."

If there was one thing Bell has to improve on it is penalties. He was flagged twice for

failing to line up on the line of scrimmage and once for a false start. He also was penalized

for holding, but the Patriots declined it.

"It wasn't inexperience," Bell said. "It's just making sure my head is even with the butt of

the center. It's my job to get up on the line. On the false start, it was a lack of

concentration. Those are mistakes I'll get cleaned up."

As for Wood and Levitre, they also were not totally pleased with their debut. But they do

think facing a defensive front line like the Patriots can only help them in the future.

"It was a great learning experience," Wood said. "We got to play against a great defense, and

even though everything didn't go perfectly I think we as an offensive line made strides."

"We have a long way to go to be a more consistent group," Levitre added. "But this was a

step in the right direction."

The Bills can say the same thing about several other players who appeared in their first

game. Defensive end Aaron Maybin got decent pressure on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and

safety Jairus Byrd had some nice plays as well. Middle linebacker Marcus Buggs, who spent last

year on the practice squad, got a lot of playing time in the second half after Paul Posluszny

went down with a broken left arm.

Rookie tight end Shawn Nelson showed why the Bills consider him a fourth-round steal,

catching two passes, including an 11-yard touchdown.

"I'm really proud of our young guys," head coach Dick Jauron said. "They play hard and give

us a real chance and they're just going to get better. It's optimistic about that, but I'm so

disappointed with the loss."