By Mary Paoletti
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @mary_paoletti
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- If you wanted a demonstrative reaction from the Patriots after Sunday's 34-31 loss to Buffalo, you've got the wrong team.
There was mostly silence.
The noise came from inside Ralph Wilson Stadium, from the Buffalo fans who stayed to throw roses to the victor -- the 3-0 Bills! The men who finally beat the Patriots after eight years and 15 games! The first-place team in the AFC East!
Outside was different.
New England left the turf and filed through the tunnel. Nobody talked. Nobody swore. Nobody complained. And nobody consoled anybody.
Even the Patriots fan in handcuffs, his red throwback jersey pulled up around his neck, stood quietly beside security while awaiting his fate.
New England Patriots
It was a strange scene -- for outsiders. For those who are familiar with The Patriot Way, well, it wasn't surprising.
Patriots defensive captain Vince Wilfork was still sweating as he strode from the locker room. Reporters had not yet been allowed in and Wilfork made eye contact with none as he left. It was a move he pulled after New England's 28-21 playoff loss to the Jets in 2010.
No thanks. Not today.
And there was no release in the dressing room. Guys showered and dressed under the same pall. Despite being one of the tiniest spaces in the NFL, even the usual hubbub of reporters and videographers jostling for sound was stifled.
Jerod Mayo, Josh Barrett and Devin McCourty eventually spoke for the defense. Rob Gronkowski -- looking shocked to be approached -- begrudgingly fielded questions with wide eyes.
"We just didn't stay focused, I guess," he said of losing grip on a 21-0 start. "It's never too much, too soon. You always want to get off to a fast start, but we've got to keep on going and keep on hanging on to that."
The team established control quickly enough.
Quarterback Tom Brady was 16-for-22 for 222 yards through the first half. That's a 125.4 rating. Against his lone interception, Brady had three touchdown throws. Wes Welker caught one of them and Gronkowski had a pair as the two combined for 12 catches and 190 yards (7 for 119 and 5 for 71, respectively). New England had just three penalties to Buffalo's seven. Same old Patriots abuse of its AFC East whipping boy Bills.
Until the Bills hit back.
Brady ended up with four interceptions -- a frustrating stat for any quarterback, but a stunner for this one. Four picks are as many as Brady threw in the entire 2010 regular season. The last time he did it in a game was against the Colts on November 5, 2006. How did he react in his press conference?
He laughed.
Was it a fluke? "Sure," he said.
Everything Brady did and said was in even temperament. One reporter tried a few times to bait the QB into an emotional response: 'Are you shocked by X?' and 'How disappointing is Y?' He didn't bite. He barely even blinked.
"It's one loss and it's a long season," Brady said. "We'll go back to work and see if we can play better next week.
"Buffalo made some good plays on the ball. Some days the ball gets batted up in the air and it goes your way, and some days it doesn't. That's part of the game . . .
"It's the way the ball bounces. That's football."
That's Patriots football.
That's what you get from the master of the closed-mouthed, Bill Belichick, and his men. No matter what boils underneath, the surface must remain smooth. And not just unbothered, but impenetrable. Belichick gave up nothing in regard to his team's undisciplined play.
"We've got to do a better job."
That was it.
"I don't know about the rest of the league," he said of offensive production around the NFL. "I just know the games we play. We just need to score more and give up less."
The game plan will probably be a bit more expansive behind closed doors. And we'll hear about it as the week goes on. Once the Patriots return home and take their knocks in the meeting room and sweat it out on the field, they'll start talking. It'll be about learning from mistakes and moving on to next week's game against the Raiders. Of course.
But there's something to take from the silence.
New England respects the duality of this loss. On one side, every game is taken seriously and no loss is shrugged off, even in Week 3. On the other, no loss can bury or even discourage them because it's only Week 3. They mourn then they move on.
A perfect machine in considering its imperfection.
Mary Paoletti can be reached at mpaoletti@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Mary on Twitter at http:twitter.comMary_Paoletti.