ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Bills are in a place this franchise has been only once during the past 17 seasons — a chance to make the playoffs in week 17.

"We're fired up," said center Eric Wood. "This is a playoff game for us, essentially. We have to win it. It's exciting. First week 17 that I've been a part of here that we've had something on the line, but we have to go down to Miami, a tough place to play, and go get a win first."

"Exciting. Big opportunity for the whole building, this whole community to go out there, root us on, and get a win down in Miami," said linebacker Preston Brown. "We know the stakes. We know if we win other stuff has to happen, but you never know. Hopefully it all will happen in our favor." 

In weeks past, the Bills have pushed away from the pressure because there was more left to play. Now that it's all down to this one game, the stakes are the highest they've been in their career for most of these players, but they say the mindset remains the same.

"We understand we have to win, but that gives us a lot more freedom to go out there and just play," said safety Micah Hyde. "Just have fun. At the end of the day, we've been playing this game for a long time. It's still football."

"I don't ever really feel like I have to do too much. It's football," said safety Jordan Poyer. "You just have to go out there and do your job. Obviously there's butterflies before every game, so just go out there and do your job and you hope to look up at the scoreboard after the game and hopefully it's in your favor."

Even if the Bills win, they'll need favors from the Bengals or Jaguars and Raiders this Sunday.