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The Buffalo Bills fell to 0-5 for the season on Sunday by losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 36-26, taking their place along with Carolina and San Francisco as the NFL’s only remaining winless teams. The Bills may not be the worst team in the league, but there’s no doubt that their defense, trying to transition to a new 3-4 scheme, is the worst defense in the NFL. Jacksonville signed Trent Edwards after the Bills released him because their starting quarterback, David Garrard, was playing horribly and when he was benched, backup Cade McCown was injured, so they were desperate for another option. Yet Buffalo’s defense made Garrard look like Peyton Manning on Sunday, as the Jags scored on 8 of their 11 possessions in the game. Their punter never saw the field. The Jaguars actually did most of their damage the way every opponent has – with their running game. But Garrard completed 16 of 20 passes for 3 touchdowns, so he was a positive factor. His favorite target was Marcedes Lewis, as the Bills, once again, got burned by an opponent’s tight end. Jacksonville rushed for over 200 yards, the fourth consecutive Bills’ opponent to accomplish that. The Bills gave up over 30 points for the fourth straight game. The most frustrating part of all this is that every team does the same thing – runs the ball, throws to the tight end – and the Bills still have no clue how to slow their opponents down, let alone stop anything. New coordinator George Edwards has no answers, and again, just like in the cases of Gregg Williams, Jerry Gray, Mike Mularkey, Tom Clements, Perry Fewell, Alex Van Pelt,etc. – Bills fans have to put up with another inexperienced coach getting his on-the-job training here while the team’s fortunes go down the drain for yet another season. In hindsight, the switch to a 3-4 defense looks like a bad idea since the team doesn’t have even a single NFL-calibre linebacker on it’s roster. This is probably beating a dead horse, but when former first round draft picks like John McCargo and Aaron Maybin can’t even play their way into the lineup on a defense this bad, they are now officially busts.

The offense probably played well enough to win this game, if the defense had shown up at all. They weren’t perfect, as they blew a first-and-goal opportunity at the one yard line with a couple of bad penalties, but they scored enough points and sustained drives long enough to give the team a chance. Fred Jackson had a decent game running the ball, and Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 3 TD passes and engineered 5 scoring drives. The special teams were bad this week, giving up long returns and not getting much on any of their own returns. Usually reliable punter Brian Moorman even had a mediocre day. One other positive out of this game is that the Bills won’t lose this week – they have a bye. That gives Chan Gailey 2 weeks to try to figure out how to field some semblance of a defense for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, none of the answers appear to be on the current roster or on the defensive coaching staff. They may be better off assuming the defense is going to give up at least 30 points a game and put their efforts toward trying to gear the offense to outscore opponents the rest of the way. Looking at the remaining schedule, the Lions’ 0-16 record of a couple years ago is definitely within reach for this team.

Last week was the first week for byes on the NFL schedule so there were only 14 games to pick. My final record for the week was 9 right and 5 wrong, bringing the tally for the year through 4 weeks to a respectable 36 right and 25 wrong. Here are my week 5 choices:

Jacksonville at Buffalo – the Bills have run a gauntlet of games that included all 3 of their tough division rivals and Super Bowl contender Green Bay, and haven’t been competitive in 3 of those games. Jacksonville looked like it may be a team the Bills could handle, then the Jaguars shocked the Colts last week. Still, I believe the Bills will break the ice this week and win this game with Fred Jackson having a productive day.

Denver at Baltimore – it’s crazy that the Broncos could trade away Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall and then lead the NFL in passing, and if Baltimore’s defense is vulnerable at all, it’s in the secondary. The Ravens’ front seven, however, will make it a long day for Kyle Orton and Baltimore will win at home.

Kansas City at Indianapolis –  the final unbeaten team in the league goes down as Indy brings the Chiefs back down to earth with a big win at home. The problem for K.C. is they are catching the Colts coming off a disappointing last second loss in Jacksonville and will be facing the wrath of a totally focused Peyton Manning & Co.

Green Bay at Washington – it was surprising that the Redskins beat the Eagles last week, but I’m not sure they would have, had Mike Vick not been hurt. Green Bay has some issues with a lack of a big time running back and injuries on defense. However, the Packers pull out a close win on the road behind a big passing day by Aaron Rodgers.

St. Louis at Detroit – battle of 2 recent NFL sadsacks who are both on the rise. The Rams have won 2 in a row behind prize rookie QB Sam Bradford, but I see the hard luck Lions getting their first win of the season at home. They are a much better team than their 0-4 record.

Chicago at Carolina – the Panthers, even with their quarterback problems, are not a terrible team. The fact that they’re winless is one of the big surprises so far this year. Coach John Fox will figure out a way to get ex-Panther Julius Peppers blocked in this game and Carolina will have success running the ball and pull off the upset. The Bears were awful on Sunday night as the Giants provided a blueprint on how to shut down Jay Cutler and the Chicago offense, which opened the season doing great in Mike Martz’s system but is really lacking in potent weapons.

Tampa Bay at Cincinnati – the Bengals are disappointing with their inconsistent play and I’m reluctant to pick them, but they’ll stay awake at home and beat the young Buccaneers. Cincinnati needs to use Cedric Benson and their running game more instead of worrying about keeping all their diva receivers happy.

Atlanta at Cleveland – Browns are  riding high after upsetting the Bengals last week and will stay close but the Falcons have too much talent and won’t lose their focus, as they need to keep winning to keep pace with the Saints in their division.

New York Giants at Houston – earlier in the season I would have picked Houston to win this game in a blowout, but the Giants’ defense is beginning to round into form. The Texans still have enough firepower, though, and I’ll pick them to win at home. Suspended LB Brian Cushing will be back to help shore up Houston’s defense.

New Orleans at Arizona – the Cardinals are fading fast and in a desperation move will start undrafted rookie Max Hall at QB this week. There’s no way an untested rookie will keep up with Drew Brees.  The Saints will win in a rout.

Tennessee at Dallas – I really thought the Titans would build on the momentum they gained in the second half of last season, and be a much better team than they’ve shown so far this year. Dallas, coming off a bye and now ready to right the ship, will win at home.

San Diego at Oakland – the games between these old AFL rivals are usually hotly contested. The Chargers are off to their usual slow start, and are inconsistent, especially on the road. I like Oakland in a close game, hopefully not having to be decided by kicker Sebastian Janikowski again.

Philadelphia at San Francisco – historically the Eagles always seem to own the 49ers, even when they have to travel west and play them on the road. However, I believe coach Mike Singletary’s team finally gets its’ first win of the season as the defense smothers Kevin Kolb and shuts down the Philly offense.

Minnesota at New York Jets – the addition of Randy Moss to the Vikings’ roster should give the team a spark, but I don’t think Brett Favre is going to have much success against the Jet defense, and frankly, I’m not sure his heart is in it this season after having to be coaxed out of retirement by his teammates.