For Rex Ryan expecting to win has always come naturally. Prior to his arrival as head coach that wasn't always a universally accepted concept in Buffalo's locker room. Now with Ryan running the show, expecting to win has quickly dominated the thinking of the Bills roster in full.
With the talent that was assembled this past offseason, particularly for the offense, and the proven resume of the head coach and offensive and defensive play callers, the collective confidence of the roster is the highest it has been in years.
Evidence of that came on the heels of the win over Indianapolis in Week 1. For outside observers the convincing nature of Buffalo's win may have come as a surprise. That wasn't the case for Buffalo's players.
"We expected to perform that way from the way we practiced during the week," said Kyle Williams. "We had a good command of what our game plan was, and we went out and executed it. We came out just as confident as we were going in, but we put in a lot of work getting ready for last week. We have to match the kind of work we put in last week, this week, to get ready again."
"From a confidence standpoint you just take the things that you did well last week and build off that," said Tyrod Taylor following his first NFL start. "The things you didn't do so well you try to correct throughout practice and go out there and run the show again."
Ryan's mere presence as head coach has emboldened Buffalo's roster. He's supremely confident that his team will earn successful results each week and his players have followed suit. There is a difference however, between being confident and cocky and the coaching staff has made sure the players understand the difference.
"I think we've got a great staff to kind of keep us humble and down to earth and a great team and great leaders to where we don't care who we play," said Sammy Watkins. "Last year we were looking to pick the schedule, but now it's like whoever is in front of us we're going to come out and play hard and be prepared."
That's why Aaron Williams isn't afraid to share just how confident he is that they can pull a positive result out of their matchup Sunday with the defending Super Bowl champions.
"My thing is that we're going to beat New England and everybody has to feel confident in that. I want everybody's confidence to be above the roof this week," Williams said. "I don't want anybody to think that they're not going to be ready. I don't want anybody to think that they can't handle the guy across from them. If anybody has that attitude we're going to be beat before the ball is snapped. I'll have my guys ready and it's going to be an exciting week."
Buffalo was handed what looked like a daunting one-two combination to start the season with their first two opponents being the clubs that appeared in last season's AFC title game. The Bills only saw it as an opportunity to see just how far they've come in one offseason.
"It definitely allows us to get exposure," said Aaron Williams. "A lot of people don't understand what Buffalo has to offer as far as a team. To get those two big games off those first two weeks it's definitely exciting to have that exposure, but it's definitely a test also. I think it's going to help this team progress further down the road."
And while the team is far from playing its best football here in September it hasn't changed the mindset and focus of the players when they take the field.
"We expect to win every game and that's our goal from the owner to the president to the GM to all the coaches," said Watkins. "We've got the best team and we're prepared. We're not lucky or proud of winning because that's what we're supposed to do."
