Nothing draws the ire of football purists more than celebrating wins in the preseason, and even the Washington Redskins at 3-0 refuse to pat themselves on the back.
But if tonight's performance was indeed some sort of dress rehearsal for the regular season, then the team's success does not go unnoticed in the locker room.
"I think it boosts everyone's confidence. It's sports, you know, momentum means everything," starting quarterback Rex Grossman said after the game. "I don't understand it, but it's in every sport.
"You start to have success, and it breeds more success, and that's definitely true in football."
Grossman got the start tonight in place of Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins, who were both held out because of injury.
The wily veteran led the team on three scoring drives and spread the ball around to nine different receivers as he rotated under center with Pat White throughout the entire game.
"We were going to go three [series] and three [series], and then I had the choice if I wanted to play or not," he said of the unconvential rotation. "I just wanted to play. There were a couple of times we were trying to get some catches to some guys, and I wanted to be a part of that."
The team finished with a preseason-best 452 yards of total offense, a number that has risen incrementally in each game.
Grossman attributed much of the success to the team's ability to succeed out of any formation and with any playcall.
"Whether you're running the ball and it opens up play-action, and you kind of get into some rhythm, and I just think everybody feels it, and everyone feeds off each other," he said. "Everybody tried to put a game plan together in a short week, and it worked out.
"Everybody played pretty well."
Fellow quarterback Pat White shared in Grossman's enthusiasm, saying that it always feels better to win than lose on the gridiron.
"It felt good to get the win. I thought we worked hard, played hard for 60 minutes," he said. "It was good to come out with a victory."
Head coach Mike Shanahan said he was proud of his team's results vs. Buffalo and the progress that the units made over the course of the preseason.
"I was impressed with our football team, especially with two days less preparation time," he said. "For them to come out and play as hard as they did and as well as they did, there was a bunch of positive things.
"I thought we played hard...it was a great team effort. Now, we have 24 hours off and have to finalize our camp."
On Tuesday, all 32 NFL teams are required to trim the rosters from 90 to 75 players, which could lead to some tough decisions for Shanahan and company.
After that, the Redskins will do Wednesday morning walkthrough and board the plane for Tampa Bay to play the fourth and final preseason game against the Buccaneers.
Pat White figures to see extended playing time again on Thursday night, an opportunity that he relishes.
"I'm just excited to have an opportunity to get on the field and compete – whether it's one rep or 20 reps," he said. "I'm happy to have this opportunity.
"I still have a lot of work to do. I still can do a lot of things to get better, both mentally and physically. I'm just happy to have an opportunity to go out there and compete."
With competition being the key ingredient to success, the Redskins coaching staff also looks forward to the next week of film, as the team will cut down to 53 following the fourth preseason game.
"We had a lot of guys play today and I'm looking forward to taking a look at the film and see who really played well," Shanahan said. "And then we have next week, we'll have the chance to evaluate a lot more players.
"I'll look forward to looking over the film and trying to come up with the best 53 [man roster] for the Monday night game."
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