There was an innocuous item that ran in the Buffalo News earlier in the week that was as much an indicator of how far the Buffalo Bills have fallen as anything -- including the Bills' astonishing 1-10 record.

It read: "As of Tuesday night, 30,000 tickets remained for Sunday's game."

Such is life in Buffalo: No one cares.

	The look on safety Travares Tillman's face says it all during the Bills' 35-0 loss to the 49ers.

This is what the Bills face as they prepare to play the 1-11 Carolina Panthers on Sunday: Nearly half of their 80,000-seat stadium threatens to be empty.

What a long, tumbling fall it's been for a Bills franchise that has proudly earned its way to four Super Bowl games and has been one of the league's true models for perennial success. Sure, the Bills faced a transition year in 2001 with an entirely-new front office and coaching staff and new systems on offense, defense and special teams. But 1-10? That's a bit drastic.

The New York Jets, on short notice thanks to Al Groh's abrupt departure after the 2000 season, brought in Terry Bradway as general manager and Herman Edwards as head coach. Both are rookies at their respective positions. And yet the Jets are 7-4 and in the hunt for a playoff berth and perhaps even a division title as they enter Sunday's pivotal game in Pittsburgh. Sure, the Jets entered the season deeper and with more established talent than the Bills, but not 7-4 vs. 1-10 worth.

So, where has it gone so wrong with the Bills? Why do the Bills stink so badly in 2001? There are a litany of reasons.

Their roster was too thin, too young and too inexperienced to start with. And that was before several debilitating injuries set in.

The belief here is that newcomer head coach Gregg Williams and general manager Tom Donahoe made their first mistake by choosing Rob Johnson as their franchise quarterback. Johnson, as seemingly everyone but the Bills knew before the season began, cannot keep himself on the field. He's proven to be too fragile, which makes him too much of a risk to place all your marbles in his basket. Sure enough, after several earlier health issues, beginning with an injured index finger in the second practice of training camp, Johnson is currently out for the season with a broken collarbone.

A second early problem for the Bills was perhaps a bit too much verbal exuberance from Williams, who's an upbeat coach with still a chance to become a good head coach. However, Williams boldly proclaimed before the season that he thought he could bring this Bills team to a Super Bowl.

Williams, too, scoffed at the notion that losing the likes of defensive tackle Ted Washington, linebackers Marcellus Wiley, Sam Rogers and John Holocek and safety Henry Jones from the Buffalo defense that ranked No. 3 in the NFL under Ted Cottrell in 2000 would derail his plans.

Williams said, "I think our defense can be better" than the one Cottrell and the above-mentioned talent engineered the year before.

Well, it hasn't exactly worked out that way. Entering this weekend, the Bills are ranked 21st in the NFL in total defense. It hasn't helped that linebacker Sam Cowart, the team's best defensive player, was lost for the season to an Achilles' injury.

Offensively, the Bills are anemic, though journeyman quarterback Alex Van Pelt has played admirably. Though young running back Travis Henry shows some burst at times, the running game has not been consistent.

The play of the offensive line, with the loss of starting right guard Jerry Ostroski (who missed the first nine games) and the slipping play of left tackle John Fina, has been spotty.

Overall, Williams began the season having lost 32 veterans from the previous two offseasons. Thus, he began the year with 32 of his 53 players being either first- or second-year players.

In order to improve significantly next year and the year after, the Bills first must make a decision on what to do at quarterback. Is Johnson still the answer? We think not.

The consensus from those in the know in Buffalo, though, is that the Bills don't believe Johnson has gotten a fair full evaluation considering his injuries and the other personnel problems on the team. So that points to another year with Johnson, although if that's going to happen something will likely have to be done about his scheduled $11.2 million salary cap value in 2002.

The complicated rub here is that the Bills, who are still unsure of Johnson, don't want to add a number of years onto a renegotiation with Johnson because they're not certain he's going to work out in the end. And, many times when teams renegotiate players' contracts to lower their cap value, they extend the contract to spread the money out.

If the Bills were to make a definitive decision that Johnson was not their man and they released or traded him, he would still count about $5 million on their cap.

The most likely scenario is Buffalo extending Johnson's deal one more year, spreading out some of the money and perhaps working out an arrangement where if Johnson proved to be the player they thought he could be he could get a big bonus into a new contract.

Another major decision that'll soon face the Bills is what they do in the draft with what's certain to be a high first-round pick. Right now, there is a three-team race between the 1-10 Bills, 1-11 Panthers and 0-11 Lions for the No. 2 overall pick after the expansion Houston Texans pick first.

The Bills' salary cap situation isn't such that they're going to be able to buy a lot of expensive talent this coming offseaason, so the draft will be critical. Do they go for the big, season-turning high pick or trade down and stockpile talent?

	“	If we're going to build this thing and continue to grow, we need another good draft this year and we're going to need another good one next year. ”
		— Tom Donahoe, Bills general manager

"If we're going to build this thing and continue to grow, we need another good draft this year and we're going to need another good one next year," Donahoe said. "All the draft picks in my opinion are paid too much money because they're unproven. So if you're up there (near the top of the first round), you better do your homework and you better make sure that if you're going to keep the pick and use it, you're picking the right guy.

"It's a tremendous financial commitment and there's going to be unbelievable pressure on the guy from the fans and media because he's supposed to be the savior."

A year ago, the Bills traded down twice in the draft and added two picks that turned out to be Henry and linebacker Brandon Spoon. Overall, they had 12 picks, 11 of whom made the 53-man roster.

"We're firm believers in that, as we continue to try to straighten this out, the primary focus has to be the draft," Donahoe said. "We probably won't have the wherewithal to get a big name free agent -- it's not realistic with the cap -- but there's always guys out there that you can find who can come in and help you."

It's sad to say, but based on the way the team looked in a 35-0 loss to the 49ers on Sunday night last week, the offseason can't come quickly enough for the Bills. In fact, it'll probably prove to be more interesting than the season itself.

"I'm very embarrassed," Bills receiver Eric Moulds said after the loss to the 49ers. "I don't know what to say. It's frustrating. I couldn't pick anybody that played well, including myself."

Those words could actually be tagged to the entire season for the Bills. It's as good a reason as any why those 30,000 tickets remained for the Bills-Panthers game despite the fact that the Bills are just about the only game in town in Buffalo at this time of year except for the NHL's Sabres.

Be wary of Terry, Bill Belichick
Terry Glenn and Bill Belichick had a pow-wow the other day, leaving Glenn, the troubled New England Patriots receiver to tell the Boston Globe, "It looks like I'm going to be playing. We talked about some things and basically we came to the conclusion that I was going to get back out there."

Only a week after he claimed his tweaked hamstring wasn't well enough for him to practice -- thus forcing Belichick to suspend him -- Glenn all of a sudden said his hammy was OK and that he's "ready to go."

According to The Globe story, Glenn said Belichick even took a "fatherly, understanding approach" with him.

	Glenn

"He knows I'm going through a lot of different things," Glenn said. "He wanted to know where my head was, and he wanted to know, do I want to help this team, and if I can, he wants me to help this team."

The strong belief here is that Glenn would be more of a help to his team if he went away and didn't practice or play with the team, because he's been enough of a distraction already.

Though Glenn has his supporters among the Patriots' players, there are a good lot in that locker room who want no part of his act. And reuniting him with his teammates to play -- despite his terrific talent as a receiver -- can only displace the terrific chemistry the Patriots have built while winning seven of their last 10 games.

So, the advice here to Belichick is this: Be very careful before you fall for some Glenn story about how everything is all right now -- and remember he's still ticked off at the organization about its withholding some $8 million of his bonus. There are obviously still hard feelings there.

"I really want to be a part of the team, I really do," Glenn told The Globe just days after he went on Boston television and stated that it was over between he and the Patriots and that he didn't see himself playing for New England again.

With players like this, it's always a different story for a different day.

The Patriots should stick with the players they know they can count on. Those are the ones who've helped resurrect their season to the point where they're making a legitimate and spirited charge toward a playoff berth.

Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes an AFC notebook every week for ESPN.com.