On the surface, the numbers – three fumbles, seven penalties for 66 yards – are ugly enough; but they don’t begin to tell the tale of the Bills’ bumbling ways in yesterday’s 27-14 loss to the Jets at Giants Stadium.

For that, you’d have to haveheard Chris Watson fumble for words, the same way he fumbled away the ball twice yesterday. You’d have to have seen offensive line coach Carl Mauck’s plump face turn red with anger as he bellowed at Marcus Spriggs after an illegal-formation penalty nullified a TD. Then, maybe you’d understand how sick they felt at giving away yesterday’s game, and a chance to lead the AFC East at 3-0.

“That’s what’s most frustrating; it’s between the ears. If you get your butt whipped, [that’s one thing]. But when you don’t play well, that’s the toughest thing,” said defensive end Marcellus Wiley from Columbia, who saw his team allow a 97-yard kickoff return to Kevin Williams, get a field goal blocked, lose their first three fumbles of the season, and give up a 45-yard Hail Mary to defensive back Marcus Coleman on the final play of the first half.

“You expect [Wayne] Chrebet to make some plays, Curtis Martin to make a few plays, but sometimes it goes beyond imagination. You don’t think about a 100-yard touchdown return, you don’t think about fumbles, you don’t think about Hail Marys. That’s not normal.

“Special teams is a focus right now. They’re not doing a third of the job we need to do. It’s pretty sad to give up points on special teams. It’s like a magic wand. We can’t give points away, I don’t care if it’s Columbia … we gave a lot away today.”

They let the game slip through their fingers along with the ball. They came into the game with just one turnover, but had four in the second half. They and the Eagles were the only teams without a fumble coming into this weekend; they had three yesterday.

“It was a disastrous game for us. It seemed like Murphy’s Law. Every time something went good for us, everything [else] went bad,” said Bills coach Wade Phillips. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a game where we’ve made that many mistakes at key times. Things just turned the wrong way for us.”

Like Watson’s fumbles. He’d cut back on a punt return in the fourth quarter, only to have Chris Hayes come from behind and strip the ball, which Bernie Parmalee pounced on. Later in the quarter, he couldn’t field a punt that took a high hop, and Hayes recovered at the Buffalo 28 with 4:35 to play and the Jets ahead 24-14.

“I’ve had better days,” Watson said. “I forgot what the coaches told me: Catch the ball first. I didn’t do a good job fielding it. I have to hold onto the ball more tightly, squeeze the air out of it if I have to.”