ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Lawyer Milloy, division rivals, the season opener: The Bledsoe Bowl just got bigger.

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe was enough to generate interest for the Buffalo Bills’ opener against the New England Patriots on Sunday. Then the Bills went out and significantly raised the stakes by adding Lawyer Milloy on Wednesday, a day after his stunning release from the Patriots.

Milloy wasn’t sure how much, if any, playing time he was going to get against his former team. But the four-time Pro Bowl safety made it clear he wasn’t happy with how he was treated by the Patriots, who released him for salary cap reasons.

“I could care less about him,” Milloy said, referring to Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “I’m all about the Buffalo Bills.”

As season openers go, this is far from being another game.

“It’s starting to turn into like the old backyard brawl, you know, guys are switching sides,” Bills tight end Dave Moore said. “It’s good, it just adds to the whole drama of it.”

Or a potential bad dream.

“That would be a nightmare,” Patriots fullback Larry Centers said, when asked to consider the prospect of the Bills and Milloy combining for a victory.

Centers is among the several intriguing sideplots. He’s one of several former Bills – nose guard Ted Washington and running back Antowain Smith are the others – now with New England, and Centers is unhappy with how Buffalo released him last March.

Then there’s Buffalo fullback Sam Gash who, five years later, remains candidly bitter about how the Patriots released him.

This is an important game for other reasons.

“We need this to get us in the playoffs. That’s plain and simple,” Bills guard Ruben Brown said.

It’s not because it’s specifically the Patriots, Brown said, but because they’re a division rival. Brown and the Bills are still stung by last year’s season-opening overtime loss to the New York Jets.

It was an outcome Brown maintains decided the AFC East race, in which the Jets won out in a three-way tie with a 9-7 record, one win better than Buffalo.

The Patriots are coming off a post-Super Bowl victory hangover of a season in which they lost four straight to open 3-4 before rebounding to finish 9-7. New England’s offense relied too much on passing, and finished 21st in the NFL, and its defense struggled, finishing 23rd.

New England specifically bolstered its defense by adding Washington, linebacker Rosevelt Colvin and safety Rodney Harrison.

Yet the Patriots took a step back by releasing Milloy, a physical hitter and vocal leader. As quick as the Patriots are to say they’re unaffected, Milloy’s loss was difficult to overlook.

“Obviously, when you lose a player of Lawyer’s caliber, unless you have a guy who’s his twin brother, there’s going to be a slackoff,” Colvin said. “We just have to buckle down and move on and find someone else to step in that role.”

Who, remains the question.

Belichick hasn’t determined who replaces Milloy, but maintains his team is focused.

“I know there is a lot of interest in this game from the fans and media, trying to make it a rivalry story,” Belichick said. “But it’s our team against their team.”

And the Bills just got better.

Milloy is the latest to join a revamped defense that’s already added linebackers Takeo Spikes and Jeff Posey and tackle Sam Adams. Together, they improve a unit that last year allowed 25 points a game, and managed 31 sacks and a league-worst 19 takeaways.

It’s enough for the Bills to believe Milloy gives them the edge, not only because they got him, but because he won’t be in the Patriots’ secondary.

“Of course, that’s a plus for us,” receiver Josh Reed said. “That’s going to be a big hole in their secondary, especially so close to the game.”

Bledsoe needs all the help he can get after two subpar performances in losing twice to New England last year. Bledsoe appeared tight, and received little help from his defense, which gave up a combined 65 points, 37 of which came in the first half.

While Bledsoe denies his play was affected facing his former team, receiver Eric Moulds believes it was a factor.

“I think he was amped for it,” Moulds said. “I think that he wanted to show that he was still a good quarterback and he kind of got caught up in it.”

That can’t happen this time around.

“We don’t want to make a Drew Bledsoe against Belichick,” Moulds said. “This year we’re just going to go out and play our game.”

AP-ES-09-06-03 1334EDT