ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Micah Hyde has grown accustomed to being an afterthought, overlooked by so many along his journey from college to the pros. And after almost three seasons in Buffalo, the veteran safety understands why the football world refuses to give this Bills defense its due.

This unit has no All-Pro players. And no current defensive player has been named a Pro Bowl selection since 2016, aside from him and veteran leader Lorenzo Alexander. Hyde insists that’s because of circumstance not talent.

Just call it the Buffalo Effect.

“Take our whole defense, switch our jerseys out, switch our helmets out with another team out there — I’m not going to say any teams, but you can fill in the blank — and they’d be talking about us being the 1985 Bears. It's crazy,” Hyde told Yahoo Sports, during a quiet moment outside of the locker room this week. “But, it’s Buffalo.”

View photos Micah Hyde delivered a back-breaker against Miami last week in the form of a kickoff return for a TD after an onside kick. (Getty Images) More

Nestled within the laidback, small-town vibes of Western New York, the Bills’ relevancy is routinely obscured by big-market franchises. Despite their quarterback woes in recent years (prior to drafting Josh Allen), their defense has remained its strength. The Bills are 5-1 for the first time since 2008, largely because of a defense led by head coach Sean McDermott and coordinator Leslie Frazier.

Despite having the No. 3 overall defense, despite having a better record than the Colts and Texans, and despite limiting the NFL’s top-scoring offense (Tom Brady’s New England Patriots) to only 16 points in a Week 4 loss, the spotlight has yet to find its way to the eastern shore of Lake Erie.

“They don’t ever talk about Buffalo,” Alexander told Yahoo Sports. “They’re waiting for it to turn into what it used to be: Seventeen years of heartfelt failure, not making the playoffs, from all the different coaches. And so they’re just waiting for it to explode.”

Inside the Bills’ refurnished facility, you’ll find a mixture of apathy and annoyance at the perceived slights. Players say they’re used to it, insist they don’t need the outside world to take notice, and yet, they admit the naysayers and nonbelievers are partly fueling their push toward the playoffs.

“We’re just a blue-collar town, blue-collar city out here. Guys just put their head down and go to work,” safety Jordan Poyer said, after the crowd of reporters left his locker stall. “We understand. Nobody gives us any respect, even at 5-1. Nobody gives us a chance to win. Every week, really. There’s someone picking against us. So we just use that, man. We just use it to motivate us.”

The Bills currently boast the fourth-best passing defense. Last year, they were No. 1 in that category despite a 6-10 record. McDermott and Frazier, two of the most respected coaches in the league, have constructed a unit that isn’t comprised of well-known stars, but rather an aggressive, tight-knit group of players focused on fundamentals. Continuity has helped, too. The heart and soul of the team, defensive tackle Kyle Williams, retired at the end of last season, but rookie Ed Oliver is the only new defensive starter. Meanwhile, the synergy between Hyde and Poyer, the consistency of defensive end Jerry Hughes and the emergence of 2017 first-round pick Tre’Davious White — the AFC Defensive Player of the Week — has made all the difference for a defense still trying to make a name for itself.

“And that’s a product of being in Buffalo, too,” Alexander said of Bills defenders not being household names. “Because if Tre’Davious White was on the Patriots, he would be a big name. You would call [Jets safety Jamal Adams, White’s former LSU teammate] a big name, and I would take Tre’Davious over him. I mean, he’s my guy.”

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