The Buffalo Bills started out with a 4-0 record, and, with the injury to New England’s Tom Brady, it appeared as if they’d be the heir apparent in the AFC East.That was until they lost their first game. Since then, the Bills have dropped three out of four, and they’re tied with the Patriots and New York Jets – with the Miami Dolphins just a game behind at 4-4 – in the competitive division. This all makes Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium against the Patriots extremely vital.”The mood was a lot better from everybody, including myself, when we were 4-0,” said coach Dick Jauron yesterday via conference call at Gillette. “But the fact is, you’ve got to take every week as it is presented to you. You’ve got to take the 5-3 record and move on. We know this is just a huge game coming up for us.”Last month, perhaps, the Bills could have looked toward Sunday’s game as a kind of “statement game,” especially with Brady out and Matt Cassel calling signals for the Pats. Now the Bills are just trying to stay afloat – although Jauron doesn’t necessarily see it that way.”I (don’t) look at it that way,” said the former Swampscott High star. “I’ve never looked nine games into the season when the season starts.”Besides, he said, a lot more goes into a Patriots-Bills game than making statements, or even where the two teams are in the standings. It’s the Patriots and Bills. That, alone, is enough motivation for both teams to prepare thoroughly and to excel.”We have ancient rivalries,” he said. “We know each other, and we know about each other’s personnel, they’re familiar with us.”Every game (in the division) becomes very, very critical and this is a division game against a team that has dominated the division for so long.”The Patriots have also dominated the Bills. Buffalo hasn’t beaten the Patriots since 2003, and some of New England’s wins have been pretty one-sided.”I believe that the fact that they’ve beaten us and beaten us soundly definitely has an effect (on how the team sees the Patriots),” Jauron said. “I’m sure it has an effect on them, too, in terms of their confidence in playing us ? We just, again, we have to deal with it. We’ve been on the losing end, and, as I pointed out, badly, so we’ve got to try to gain a little ground on these guys. They’re awfully good ? from top to bottom.”Jauron doesn’t think the Bills will have it any easier with Cassel back there instead of Brady, either.”I think he’s done a really good job,” Jauron said. “I’m impressed by his arm strength, impressed by the way he seems to handle the adjustments that are necessary in their scheme.”He appears to be calm on the field, doesn’t appear that you rattle him very easily; he’s got really good size to see down the field, it appears that he’s got good vision of the field,” he said. “It looks like another smart personnel move, and they’ve done a really nice job developing Matt, so I’m impressed by him.”Of course, Jauron has a quarterback of his own who has grown by leaps and bounds since taking over the reins in Trent Edwards.”I would say he has improved in every area, I really would,” Jauron said. “I give him a lot of credit; he’s worked awfully hard in the off-season in every way: on the field, off the field, in the weight room, with his nutrition. Every way, he’s done everything that he can possibility do to give us the best chance to win and to give himself the best chance to win.”