SwagJag

The Jags locked up the playoffs weeks ago. A faction of Bills fans want to add Andy Dalton to the Ring of Honor for such an improbable playoff berth. The Jags come into the postseason with 55 sacks going against the third most sacked QB in the league. Talking stats and players is a lot more fun than talking travelling fans.

Then I have worn out my welcome. Appreciate your having me. Best of luck. Enjoy the offseason, whenever it starts for you.

At this point I am convinced this will be a home game for Buffalo with a whopping 50,000 Bills fans in attendance. That your fans travel well and will have a presence in the stadium still means nothing to what the actual players on the field are doing. From what I gather, some of you feel your bravado and superior cheering skills will give the Bills the edge to overcome the fact that your team ranks in the bottom third on offense and defense and is facing a team in the top 6 in both categories. Sure.. any given Sunday and all that, but the odds are clearly stacked against a Bills victory everywhere except this thread. Just ask Vegas. Could it happen? Sure. But the brimming confidence some are showing is not what one would expect from a team that is clearly flawed and whose best offensive weapon will be less than 100%, if he plays at all, behind a bottom tier OL. That must be some special kool-aid you make up there.

You need to live in reality and do the math that would get the stadium to 20-30k Bills fans. I get that you guys think Jags fans are completely disloyal and are simply looking to cash in by gouging Bills fans, but I cannot impress on you how confident I am nowhere near that number of Bills fans will be in the stadium on Sunday. You will have a presence, but you will not make up a third or half the stadium. Sorry.

"About 20%" of a stadium with 67,000 seats equals 20-30k Bills fans. Gotcha.

Of course I expect some Bills fans to be there. Just nowhere near the numbers you guys are throwing out. Every Jags fan I know is going to the game. Appreciate the passion and the loyalty, but reality needs to factor in somewhere too.

I get it. That is why I am stoked for both fan bases to get the monkey off our backs. I think in a city like Buffalo, there is an increased focus. Like us, you are a small market team which is locally saturated with coverage of your sports teams. I still think 20k is a steep number, but we shall see. I know just about every local season ticket holder who got tickets is getting hounded by locals who NEED to be inside that stadium just like your fans feel they have to be. Gotta love the passion this game is bringing out for both fan bases.

Yep. Looked like he was in pain. Glad to see his career rebounded. He is a solid player. I hate injuries. One thing I will say about your fanbase. You don't lack confidence. Whether or not it is warranted..

Touche.. I won't press the issue of centers because I remember when Eric Wood suffered a significant injury on this field.

You guys are hysterical thinking 30k Bills fans are coming to Jax. I get that you guys travel, but I would think, playoffs or not, 10k is probably the cap. As someone who has gone to plenty of games over the years, I will politely say you don't travel like Steelers fans. You will be visible, but this crowd is going to be electric and very loud every time Tyrod snaps the ball.

It's an event here and I know commonly at halftime or quarter ends, people migrate to meet up with other friends. By all means, the game IS the reason for being there, but for some reason people don't always tend to stay in their designated seat the whole game. I have had 400 level tickets to plenty of games, but have never sat in those seats as I have always found better ones open. As this is a playoff game, that may not be the case. The party deck is lower than the nosebleed seats and offers a better view. Awesome. There really are few bad seats in the house. That is a cool corner of the stadium. As mentioned, Jax is massive in size, so depending on where you are staying, you will likely need to travel to get to some of the cooler spots. I repeat, do not waste your time on the downtown area.The Riverside/Five Points and Avondale (St. Johns Ave) areas just southwest of the downtown are much more interesting and have significantly more to offer. The San Marco area due south of the downtown does as well. The St. Johns Town Center is a massive outdoor mall area that has anything you could ask for (except.. y'know any sort of real culture). Jax Beach is a hike from the downtown area, but offers it's own vibe and is very cool. A few places I would recommend: TacoLu (off Beach Blvd - locally caught fish tacos are the attraction - the scallop taco is not on the menu, but is amazing) V Pizza (multiple locations - the one in San Marco has a great bar attached to it called Sidecar where all cocktails are truly handcrafted - all ingredients including flour imported from Italy and cooked in wood ovens also imported from Italy) Indochine (in San Marco - very good Thai food) Lola's (in Riverside off King St. - solid burritos - they make a killer salsa verde to order if you are into that) Biscotti's (in Avondale - rotating menu - incredible brunch - all made with love) Metro Diner (multiple locations - Just yes.. to all of it)

The tarp thing kinda took a life of its own. The truth is, when Khan took over, he got rid of most of the tarps. There are only two nosebleed sections that had them left. As I heard it, they needed permission from the league to remove them which caused the delay. Once they did, those seats were gobbled up in a few minutes. The tarps are an easy target for haters, but the truth is, even with them we have a larger capacity than a lot of other stadiums, like Soldier Field for example. EverBank Field is built on the shell of the old Gator Bowl which was pretty big. When the blackout rules were in effect (and the team was pathetic), it became an issue for local fans as many games were blacked out locally (which may have been a blessing in disguise). The tarps were a means to keep games on tv. Much respect to Bills fans who get out there and brave the elements. Loved seeing highlights from the Colts game this year. For those coming to town, our stadium straight up kicks "butt". The world's largest scoreboards, longer than the field and six stories tall flanked at both end zones and all the bells and whistles. If you grabbed a nosebleed seat, you can always go to the party deck above the north end zone (where the pools are) as all the talent is not on the field, if you catch my drift. The Bud Zone above the south end zone also gets packed, but can be loud and a bit rowdy at times. Ushers are not militant, so if you see an open seat in the lower bowl, you may be able to slide in. A lot of fans roam the stadium throughout the game as there are plenty of cool spots to hit. That is why sometimes it looks like less people are there than truly are.

Jacksonville has been a punchline for so long and is regularly disrespected as a pro football town. Interesting to get that take from Bills fans as Buffalo gets a lot of the same negative jabs from my perspective. The difference is the Bills have been a franchise much longer. Jags fans have kind of gotten used to being overlooked or panned by lesser members of the national media as it is low hanging fruit. Lord knows the Cowboys could be a 4 win team and they will still get wall to wall coverage (God I hate the Cowboys -- almost as much as you guys). The truth is Jax has had two professional teams before the Jags were born and has long been a hotbed for college football fans. We are very knowledgeable and passionate. We just haven't had much to cheer for lately. The Jags have not been stellar against the run, and have taken advantage of games where they can play with a lead and teams abandon it. That is when we wreak havoc. I would say sticking to a game plan where we believe you guys will continue to run will be critical for you to win. Especially if you used Tyrod on read option plays. Myles Jack and Telvin Smith are very fast LBs. Poz, not so much. Teams that can effectively set up play action have seen success. Especially if you have an athletic fullback or H-back that can slip out on quick screens. I understand the shade for Hackett, but I swear, he has been the best OC we have had in years. Our WR corps has been decimated. We lost our best WR for the year in Allen Robinson on the first drive of the first game. Marqise Lee has been injured on and off all year and has a tendency for drops. Allen Hurns is a solid route runner and may be the toughest guy on the team with all he has played through, but it is obvious he has not been at 100%. We have been getting it done lately with rookies, two of them undrafted. Dede Westbrook can take the top off the defense (but had a drop that cost us the win against Tennessee). Keelan Cole came from out of nowhere (raise your hand if you knew Kentucky Wesleyan was even a school) and has been phenomenal. Jaydon Mickens was a mid season find who took over punt return duties (and won the AFC ST player of the week twice) and was thrust into the offense due to injuries. Marcedes Lewis is a great blocking TE, but does not have blazing speed or the most reliable hands. For Hackett to make a top 10 offense with these parts and Blake flippin' Bortles as the QB, I have to tip my hat to him. As someone who has watched this team for a long time, it is clearly the plays he is putting in the game plan to cater to the players we have that have been the difference. Keenan McCardell has also put his fingerprints on the WRs as their position coach. Special teams has been a strength of ours as well. We have had multiple successful fake punts which have swung the momentum for us in wins. Our team mantra this season has been "Win Today" and we have not been afraid to roll the dice with fakes, even pinned back deep in our own territory.

Thanks for having me. Truth is, I don't think either of us sees too much of each other's team and I have been trying to scout you guys as best I can. Plus I know Jax is a tough city to grasp for out of towners and wanted to offer up nuggets where I can for a better visit to those swinging through. The downtown is actually one of the worst places you could go for a good time. But it is close to the stadium, so a lot of people end up there. Tip number 1: don't go to The Landing. It's depressing and terrible.

Hello all! As you could have guessed, I am a Jags fan. Wanted to pop by your forum to discuss the upcoming game and make myself available for any questions you might have about the Jags our our fine city some of you will be visiting soon. I have read every page of this thread and wanted to respond directly to some of the things stated. For this reason, this will be a long post. I solemnly swear that I am not a troll. First off.. CONGRATULATIONS! From one long suffering fan base to another, I can see how genuinely excited you guys are to be in the playoffs again. Fans here have had very little to cheer or for some time. We drafted a punter one pick before Russell Wilson and went from a 2 win season under Mike Mularkey to a dark age under Gus Bradley who was the losingest coach to ever lead a team to 50 or more games in NFL history. I think we can all appreciate this moment for a few days longer. I will start with the big one. Yes. Jaguars fans feel very fortunate to have drawn the Bills. We wanted no part of Philip Rivers who has owned the Jaguars for years before we eked out a 3 point home win this season. Similarly, we did not want to see a Ravens team we embarrassed in London who seems to have matured as the season wore on. That said, I would not say any true Jags fan feels overconfident about any game we play. The truth is, we never know which team is going to show up. The one that plays to it's ability or the one that finds ways to lose games they should win (like forgetting to touch a running back who fell to the turf and got up to run for a 75 yard TD). Jags fans perceive the Bills as the least terrifying opponent we could have played. I get the sense you guys feel the same about us. Truthfully, we may both be right. But aside from some of the homers, I cannot see how any true Jags fan can be too high this week seeing as we have stunk out loud for 2 weeks in a row. Someone stated we are bad at home. The truth is, we have won 5 in a row at EverBank field and despite the legion of Bills fans we know will be in attendance, the stadium has been rocking and will be very loud every time the Bills are on offense. Our fans are not terrible as someone stated. We have been beat down for years, but there is a real energy in this city for this team that has been missing for a long time. I don't think the city was this electric even the last time we were in the playoffs. Truthfully, I expect between 7000-9000 Bills fans to be on hand. A testament to a fanbase that has been loyal through lots of adversity. There are always some chuckleheads who will try to ruin it for everyone, but the truth is that our fans are by and large very nice and accommodating to visiting fans. Sure there is expected to be banter back and forth, but typically we treat all people well and those coming shouldn't expect open hostility. I heard a couple of jabs at Nathaniel Hackett as our OC. The truth is, he has been a godsend. Blake Bortles has been one of the most inaccurate downfield passers before this season (not that he is lighting it up now). Hackett did a masterful job of designing plays which play to Blake's strengths and has scrapped plays which he knows push Blake's limitations to the brink. I think teams have started to figure out his schemes as late, but before Hackett, we rarely saw the crossing patterns and wheel routes which have given Blake a comfort zone. You never know which Blake is gonna show up, so you cannot just look at the last two games when analyzing him. If that Blake shows up Sunday, you have my best wishes when you go to Foxboro. I have heard stopping Fournette is the big priority. Makes sense, but he has been hot and cold lately too. Our O-line is not great at making holes. Amazed Fournette got 1000 yards behind it. But we have won every game he didn't play. I think our gameplan vs. Tennessee was a bit vanilla by design as we wanted to hold some things back for the playoffs. But we will stay committed to the run. I am still baffled we keep going to the well with TJ Yeldon as a change of pace guy as he just isn't a threat to score. Good in pass protection or as a safety valve. Not much else. Ivory has been a healthy scratch and is also hit or miss. He has a knack for fumbling which limits his touches. The guy I have been frustrated we are not using is return man Corey Grant. Speed kills and he is small enough to hide behind the line and turn the corner on stretch plays. He has come up big time and again, yet we barely use him. As for Dareus, I would not expect him to have a ton of playing time as he was filling in for Abry Jones who is expected to be back at full strength. Dareus will be in the reserve role he has been since coming here. Calling our defense overrated is just silly though. Yes the 49ers lit us up, but that was an anomaly. Shanahan schemed a great plan and Jimmy G had a quick release which burned us early. They keyed on Poz a bit who is a solid run stuffer, but a liability in coverage. Truth is we have been awful on west coast trips since forever. We have not won on the west coast since 2005 and came out predictably sluggish. We had a number of uncharacteristic mental gaffes throughout the game and still almost came back to win. We will not blitz much and will beg you to throw. Our defense is good enough to win games on their own when they are on point. But if we fall behind by 2 scores, we are in bad shape. With a lead, this defense will ruin your day. The one thing that scares me is Tyrod's mobilty. QBs that can break contain have had success against this defense. We are much better with true pocket QBs. I'm not sure where that folding table thing came from, but it sounds like a joke. I will gladly provide my ID to anyone who needs a folding table and is carded. Saw a number of you are going to Wing It on Saturday before the game. I am positive it won't be as good as what you are accustomed to. Not the best restaurant in town. Jax is weird and the biggest city in the country in terms of square mileage. So everything is spread out. For those coming to town, we have a lot of good local breweries and restaurants. Intuition Ale Works is right across from the stadium and a solid choice, but I would also recommend Kickbacks Gastropub for beer lovers. You can reserve parking online at Tailgater's Parking lot which regularly draws opposing fans. If you are staying at hotels near downtown, you can catch a water taxi for $5 each way instead of paying for parking if that works better for you. Wishing you guys best of luck. Hoping for a good, clean, injury-free game. I am not sure either of us are super confident that we are Super Bowl bound, so I hope we can all enjoy the ride. Happy to answer any questions you may have.