Two Bills Drive

'"He's been phenomenal," McDermott said. "He's been coming off the ball. He's been doing the little things. It's easy to be a one-dimensional player and get numbers, but he has bought into the system, being one-eleventh of the defense. He plays the run extremely well."'

'“He's a quiet guy. Very humble, low key,” veteran linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “That's just who he is. I think the more he’s been around this team, especially on the football field, the more reps he's gotten, the more times we've been able to have conversations about playing the game,” he’s gotten more comfortable. “You could see it on Sunday, too. As the game progressed, he became more confident.”'

'McDermott said center Eric Wood and defensive tackle Kyle Williams have reminded their teammates of what happened the last time the Bills were flying high before a game at Cincinnati. That was in 2011, when the Bills were 3-0 and proceeded to suffer a 23-20 loss to the Bengals, who had been 1-2.'

'But there was more to discuss, much more, considering all the positive energy funneling into the Bills and Sabres over the past week. In a three-day span, the Bills improved to 3-1 and were alone in first place in the AFC East, and the Sabres made the biggest financial commitment to a player in franchise history.'

'Because Dareus only played 22 snaps against the Falcons, I figured the game provided a good opportunity to describe what he did on every play he was on the field without the list being too long…'.

'Of the 76 cornerbacks who've played at least 150 snaps thus far in the 2017 season, White owns the highest overall grade and has the fourth-highest overall coverage grade among those corners.'

'First of all, I want to make this known, we have confidence in the guys in our receiving room. Philly is a guy that played in games. He knows the system. He knows what we are looking for. He knows what it is like to play in big games. For all those reasons, we thought it was the right time and we’ll take a look at him today and see how he looks here.'

'“They’re just doing a nice job of being sound. They’re very well-coached, and it shows on tape.”'

'“I’m hitting the ball well, and just everything is coming together,” Hauschka said. “It feels great. I knew I was capable of these types of things, and the mind is powerful. I’m just trusting myself, believing in myself and having fun out there.”'

'I would guess McDermott is in a pretty exclusive club in that regard, because a depth chart – now minus injured Jordan Matthews – that includes Andre Holmes, struggling rookie Zay Jones, newly-signed Philly Brown, and Kaelin Clay doesn’t elicit much faith among the fan base.'

'Hyde has three interceptions to his name this year and is a big reason why the Bills rank so well at defending the deep ball.'

'In fact, since the AFC East realigned in 2002, the Bills being in first place has been a rare occurrence. The Bills' current hold on first place is only the 11th time the team has been in first since 2002.'

'"There's great competition on our roster right now, and I love that," McDermott said. "The players want that. That's why they work during the week. They understand what's at stake. We're only going to continue. Competition takes everyone's game up a notch. That's good for us."'

'Hauschka attended NCAA Division III Middlebury College in Vermont to play soccer and lacrosse. He was sent down to the JV soccer squad and he started to set his sights on becoming a dentist like his mom.'

'No I’m not concerned,” Taylor said. “We’ll continue to be persistent in our running game and Shady is a great back and our offensive line is doing a great job each week.”'