ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The moment Troy Brown glanced at this week's game plan against Buffalo, as soon as he noticed that it would feature tailback Antowain Smith, he laughed to himself. Not because Smith can't run between the tackles, as the game plan called for. And not because Smith packs a little extra when he plays the Bills, his former team.

No, what made Brown giggle was that Smith would be featured in the passing game, so he'd get to watch Smith catch the ball all week. For Brown, comedy comes cheap. "We pick on Antowain for the way he catches passes," he said, still laughing after New England whipped Buffalo 38-7. "He positions his hands in a weird way. I can't even describe it."

	Antowain Smith had only two TDs in seven games before scoring three Sunday.

So what if Brown doesn't know exactly how Smith catches the ball? All that matters is that the Pats' forgotten back can. He caught five passes on Sunday, two for touchdowns. And Brown knows Smith can run, too. After rushing for 111 yards on 29 carries, Smith is back in the center of the Pats' offense. "I knew the game plan was around me this week," he said as he stood outside the locker room. "We knew we could run. It had to be."

The Patriots won the Super Bowl last year riding on Smith's back. They ran on 49 percent of their downs and Smith had 1,157 yards. He cashed in with a five-year, $22 million contact. And then when training camp rolled around, it was as if his sell-by date had long passed. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis seemed bent on turning Tom Brady into Dan Fouts, and Smith wondered where he fit in. Coming into the game, Smith's week-by-week carries were 17, 15, 16, 16, 9, 13 and 13. "I knew I'd be back in the game plan," he said. "But I didn't know when."

Or how. Backup Kevin Faulk had been subbing for Smith on passing downs, making the Pats' offense an easier read than Superfudge. To stop the defending champ's four-game losing streak, Weis knew he had to get a lead and then turn it over to his tailback.

At first, Smith was a decoy: A five-yard gain on the game's first play, then an unusual mainstay on the field as New England passed five-straight times en route to a 7-0 lead.

Then, it was back to 2001. Using a steady display of guard and tackle traps, New England had Smith clearing the line touchless. On a key drive in the second quarter, New England used three-wideout sets and Smith carried four times. On third-and-8, a down in which Smith is usually drinking water, he sneaked out of the backfield and scored on a 13-yard reception. Even Smith seemed shocked: it was only the second receiving touchdown in his six-year career.

Up 24-7 in the third quarter, it became Smith's game. "It felt like last year," said center Damien Woody. "We saw his style: straight ahead, getting fed the ball, pushing people." He touched the ball on 22 of the Pats' 36 second-half plays.

Along the way, he was doing things he'd never done before, hearing things he'd never heard before. On a fourth-and-3 in the third quarter, Brady dropped back to pass and hit Smith in the flat. Not only did the awkward-handed one snare the ball, but he dove for the first down. On the way back to the huddle, Brady said, "You're my go-to guy on fourth-down!" Five plays later, he scored his second touchdown.

"This was huge for him," said tackle Matt Light. "When he wasn't getting as many carries, as linemen we took it personal. We weren't doing our job. We stuck with our game plan, and we gave them a real good taste of him. And especially when he's playing against a team that let him go, he had something extra in his back pocket."

	“	Antowain did a super job. He runs hard and made a couple big plays in the passing game, too, on those screens. You just can't say enough about Antowain Smith. He's run hard all year. I'm sure it's good for him to do it here. ”
		— Bill Belichick, Patriots head coach

While most of the laptop weary and heavy hairsprayed sports journalists focused on Drew Bledsoe versus Bill Belichick, folks forgot that Smith was packing revenge as well. As hard as Smith tries to give off the impression he doesn't get up any higher against the Bills, it doesn't fly. After five seasons in Buffalo, he was released before last season when the team was convinced he dogged it in his offseason workouts.

He slacked off a bit before this year, too, and failed an early conditioning test, which led to speculation that New England's heavy dose of short passes in September were replacing runs Smith wasn't in shape to execute. "We didn't forget him, but we had a different philosophy," Woody said. "That being said, everybody got the sense that we needed to feed him and get back to what we did last year."

"Antowain did a super job," Belichick said. "He runs hard and made a couple big plays in the passing game, too, on those screens. You just can't say enough about Antowain Smith. He's run hard all year. I'm sure it's good for him to do it here."

Then, as if to remind everyone Bledsoe wasn't the only big acquisition between the two teams, he said: "I'm glad we got him." After the game, you got the feeling Smith felt like his season had just began. It was the first time he carried the load. First 100-yard game. First multiple-touchdown game of the year. First time he entered the game as the focal point and ended it that way, too. "It never got to the point that I went and asked to get more carries, but I needed to be more involved," he said, standing alone in the tunnel leaded toward the bus. "When it gets nasty in November and December you need to run."

Then, he flashed his Super Bowl ring, just to remind everyone of what can happen when the Patriots do.

Seth Wickersham covers the NFL for ESPN The Magazine.