"Start fast, flame out.

The Buffalo Bills' season finale in New England went much like their season overall.

They jumped out to a 21-0 lead, lost a couple of key players and staggered to the finish, falling, 49-21, to the mighty Patriots.

"It definitely was symbolic of how this season went," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "We started out fast and we shot ourselves in the foot late."

The Bills closed the season 6-10, last in the AFC East for the fourth straight season.

"Starting 5-2 is great, but winning one of our last nine is not good football," said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. "There are a lot of things that we need to correct."

Just like the last season in which the Bills won the first meeting against the Pats -- way back in 2003 -- New England evened the score with style. In '03 the Pats avenged a 31-0 season-opening loss with a season-ending 31-0 payback. This time they equaled the 21-point comeback the Bills had executed in winning, 34-31, in September.

Bills receiver Stevie Johnson helped grease the skids for the collapse, which equaled the largest in Bills history. After catching an 18-yard touchdown pass to put Buffalo ahead, 14-0, Johnson got a 15-yard excessive celebration penalty for exposing a "Happy New Year" message written on his undershirt.

Bills coach Chan Gailey benched him for the rest of the game, a punishment he had promised the players he would exact in the wake of Johnson's previous excessive celebration, the "crashing Jet" routine in New York five weeks before.

"It definitely hurt that Stevie wasn't out there," Fitzpatrick said. "Unfortunately he got the penalty and Chan made the decision.""