Amid the rubble of the 4-12 finish last season, there were shards of hope. Four of the losses were by just 3 points to playoff teams, three of them in overtime. Linebacker Shawne Merriman, still the biggest name on the Bills, was on teams that were loaded with talent in San Diego. And he insists that when he got to Buffalo in the middle of last season, he discovered a team that was not nearly as bad as its record. He watched film and saw a missed play here, a close call there and determined that the Bills were just a few fixes away from competitiveness.

But a franchise steeped in losing needed a culture change, and Coach Chan Gailey had just gotten started. He removed televisions from the weight room, a signal that the Bills would be all business. After just two games last season, he dumped the starting quarterback Trent Edwards, a third-round draft pick of the previous staff, in favor of Fitzpatrick, even though he says he did not know at the time if Fitzpatrick was capable of performing the way he is now.

“I’m getting way too many questions about how that has happened,” Gailey said. “We got a bunch of guys that try to get better, they understand what we’re trying to get done. I think time together has a lot to do with it, and I really do think the maturation of our offensive line has really helped us. We have a better idea of what our players can do, so maybe we’re putting them in a better position. And Fitz is playing very, very well right now.”

Fitzpatrick, the rare player who wears his wedding ring on the field, still is called Fitzgerald, even by stadium announcers, and has remained so unassuming that when he met Murphy for dinner a few years ago, he became excited when Murphy brought him some Harvard sweats. But around him, a transformation has occurred, for the team and the town. Fitzpatrick said last week that his brother, watching a game at a bar in Santa Fe, was asked for his autograph. When Brandon Fitzpatrick explained it was Ryan who was the Bills’ quarterback, the man said he knew, he wanted Brandon’s autograph because he was Ryan’s brother.

The morning news in Buffalo last week discussed the latest odds that the Bills could play that other N.F.L. underdog — the undefeated Detroit Lions — in the Super Bowl. Before its home opener this season, the team confirmed it had hit a 10-year low in season-ticket sales. But the Bills’ chief executive, Russ Brandon, said the team’s revival had spurred a spike in individual-game ticket sales, particularly for the game against the Jets on Nov. 6.

“Sales have been brisk, and excitement is at a very high peak,” Brandon said.

The Bills still have a long way to go before they match the heroics, or the capacity for heartbreak, of the 1990s Bills, who lost four consecutive Super Bowls. This team could be undone by a lack of experience.