Bills fan to Browns fan: "Brother, you don't know the troubles I've seen. We just lost by 28. We haven't made the playoffs in a decade. We've been watching a bottom-eight offense for six straight years!"

Browns fan to Bills fan: "Troubles? What do you know about troubles? We've lost 10

straight. Our offense has three touchdowns in its last 115 possessions. We've watched a

bottom-10 offense nine of the last 10 years!"

Welcome to the Misery Loves Company Bowl today at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns will settle the question of which city is the armpit

of Lake Erie, at least from a pro football perspective.

The Browns (0-4) are desperate after a bitter overtime loss last week to Cincinnati. They

haven't won since the last time they visited Buffalo, last Nov. 17 when they edged the Bills,

29-27.

The Bills (1-3) are desperate after an embarrassing, 38-10 loss last week at Miami. Buffalo

has lost 11 of its last 14 games and might — with an emphasis on might — need to

win today to preserve the job of head coach Dick Jauron.

"The Bills aren't happy with where they are right now, and the same thing with us," said

Browns tackle Joe Thomas. "We think we're a much better team than 0-4. But that's where we

are, and we're going to try and make the best of it going forward."

"They're winless, we've only won one," said Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams. "This

isn't where we want to be. It's not just something that's frustrating for fans. The players

are frustrated. We don't believe we should be 1-3."

It would be a surprise if the teams combined for 56 points like they did 11 months ago.

Cleveland's offense ranks 29th in yards and 30th in points, and the Browns just traded

their best receiving weapon — Braylon Edwards — to the New York Jets.

Buffalo's offense has been paralyzed the past two weeks by its offensive tackle situation.

Miami's pass rushers were too much last week for starting tackles Jonathan Scott and Kirk

Chambers. Quarterback Trent Edwards has been sacked 10 times the past two games and the Bills

have produced just one offensive touchdown the past two weeks.

The prospects for Buffalo's offense appear a little brighter today.

First, Demetrius Bell is expected to return from a groin injury to reclaim his starting

spot at left tackle. Scott will be able to move back to right tackle. Still, the five starters

on the Bills' O-line have a combined 50 starts. (Cleveland's line has 244 combined starts.)

Second, the Browns' defense ranks 32nd in the NFL in yards allowed. Cleveland also is

likely to be without its top tackler, linebacker D'Qwell Jackson.

The Bills' offense had trouble with the Browns last season. Buffalo managed just two

offensive touchdowns, and the Browns intercepted three of Edwards' first seven passes.

"When we played them on Monday night, they dropped into a lot of coverage and they rushed,

like, three guys," Edwards said. "This year, they're bringing a lot more pressure by the

safeties, so that's probably the biggest difference that I noticed."

Blitzing by the Browns would be no surprise for many reasons. The Bills' young offensive

line has had trouble handling pressure. And Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is adept at

dialing up blitzes, just like his famous coaching father (Buddy) and his brother (Rex), the

Jets' head coach.

Ryan coached in Oakland last season and bottled up the Bills' offense for three quarters in

a September game in Buffalo. The Bills scored 17 fourth-quarter points in that game to win,

24-23.

The Browns have played good offenses this season — Minnesota, Baltimore, Denver and

Cincinnati. Those teams are a combined 14-2.

The Browns sacked Brett Favre four times in Week One. They have seven sacks on the season.

The Bills have allowed 16 sacks.

When the Bills run, they will have to contend with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Shaun Rogers,

who is listed at 350 pounds but could be 380.

"It's fun playing these guys who are the best players in the NFL week in and week out,"

said Bills guard Eric Wood. "He makes a lot of plays in the backfield. You've got to finish

every play on him because if not, he'll finish you. When he smells blood, he goes."

The Browns' offense must adjust without Edwards, a former third overall pick.

The wideout contingent includes rookies Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie, slot man Mike

Furrey and former Jet Chansi Stuckey, acquired this week in the Edwards deal.

Quarterback Derek Anderson took over for Brady Quinn as the starter last week and led an

attack that produced 395 yards.

"Brady looked like he'd get a little fidgety," said the Bills' Williams. "I think Derek

Anderson has given them a shot in the arm. Anderson is a big guy, he stands in there. I don't

know how fast he is. But it looks like he knows, "I'm not going to outrun anybody so I'm going

to stand in here and throw the ball.'"

The Browns' best rusher, Jamal Lewis, has been hindered by a sore hamstring. His backup,

Jerome Harrison, scored on a 72-yard touchdown run against the Bills last season.

The Bills' run defense aims to rebound from allowing 250 and 222 rushing yards the past two

weeks.

"The first two games prior to that, I don't know if the teams got 80 yards, let alone 200,"

said Kawika Mitchell, who will play middle linebacker for the Bills today. "So, it's not

something that we're not capable of doing. It's just a matter of playing sound ball.

"We had a lot of mental errors last game, and that was a big problem. They weren't blowing

us off the ball or anything like that. It was just people weren't playing smart. If we get

that taken care of, and everybody does their job, I think we'll be fine."