Buffalo Bills at New York Jets

Buffalo Bills tight end Scott Chandler (84) celebrates with Sammy Watkins (14) after Watkins scored a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Orchard Park, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills have been here before. They are 5-3 heading into the bye week after a 43-23 win over the New York Jets, marking the fourth time since the year 2000 that they have started the season 5-3.

In fact, the last two times the Bills started 5-3, they finished those seasons 1-7 and 2-6 in the second half. It takes collapses like that for a franchise to have a 14-year playoff drought, and that's why coach Doug Marrone isn't particularly worried about the team becoming overconfident.

"I don't think that's the case at all when you haven't been to the playoffs in such a long time," Marrone said. "I think the one message that I tried to tell them today is that it doesn't get easier, it gets harder.

"You start competing against teams that are in the same position you are. When you're not, you're playing against teams that want to knock you off. We're not even in that position yet, so we've got a long way to go before we get into that type of position."

So can the Bills finish their strong start to the season? Games against the Broncos, Packers and Patriots in December loom large, but there are plenty of winnable games left on the schedule. What makes this team different enough that it will be able to finish the season strong? Here's how players answered that question Monday morning.

Safety Aaron Williams

"We know how to finish games. We're doing a lot better finishing games than we did in the past. I know my rookie year we started out 5-1 before the bye week and the second half was horrific. We went 1-7 or something like that. I feel like this team is just hungry. They know how good this team is and how good this team can get down the road. So as long as we keep preparing like we have been and keep pushing every week, it's going to be really hard to beat us.

"We have a lot to prove. We're never satisfied. 5-3 is a great start, but there's still (eight) more games left in the season. A lot of things can happen. In this league, crazy things can happen. I've seen it. We can become hot and go farther than 5-3 or we can slump and fall back and do what we did my rookie year and go 1-7 again. But I feel like this is the type of team that knows, they're hungry and they want to make the playoffs."

Tight end Scott Chandler

"Nothing right now. We have to make it different. It feels a little different, but I don't know how much of that is my different perspective or if it's our team. I think it's our team. We still have a long ways to go. You know, 5-3 at the bye week, we're on track for where we want to be, but we're not there."

Defensive tackle Kyle Williams

"Well, you know I think that we have leadership on this team that has been there, done that. That is going to kind of shepherd these guys and know that we have a long way to go. Yeah, it's a good feeling going into the bye beating a divisional team, being 5-3, but we're going to look at the second half of our season. We have a big stretch run coming up for us and that's all that's really going to matter."