USA Today

‘“But, you know, whatever. The league makes money off of it. That’s all they care about, anyway. So we just keep trucking. We’ve got a tough group of guys in this locker room, so it’s back to the drawing board, back to Buffalo, and we’ve got the Saints.”’

‘But a funny thing happened on the way to tanking the 2017 season. The Bills are 5-2. FiveThirtyEight.com puts their playoff odds at 63%. Even so, gun-shy Bills fans readily recall what happened in 2011, the last time the Bills started 5-2. They promptly lost their next seven games.’

‘The foremost priority has involved changing the culture. The former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator has convinced players to buy into his “One-11th” mantra, which means each member of a unit has to focus on doing his respective job while remembering that he is part of a group, and his contribution leads to the greater good.’

‘Dareus was the third overall selection in what was a loaded 2011 NFL Draft. Cam Newton and Von Miller were selected one-two before Dareus, and immediately after A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson and Julio Jones were selected. Tyron Smith, J.J. Watt, Robert Quinn, Ryan Kerrigan and Cameron Jordan were also first-round picks that year. In all, the first round of the 2011 draft produced 15 players who earned at least one Pro Bowl selection. While Dareus does have those two Pro Bowl selections in tow, a strong case could be made that the Bills might have done better with their third overall pick.’