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First ever Bills game, and man, what a game

ctk232

By ctk232
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ctk232 RFA

ctk232

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Apologies if this belongs elsewhere on the board, but I just had to post a true thank you to this team for showing up the way they did yesterday, for a pretty personally important game. After 26 years of growing up a Bills fan in Philly, now living on the west coast - my first ever Bills game was nothing short of what we had hoped for.

 

It was my Uncle's 68th birthday, and he had recently relocated to Stillwater from Buffalo a couple years ago. Not too long ago he had an accident falling off a ladder in the driveway, and now that he was finally recovered, we had the idea to buy tickets to the game to get us all back together. His brother (my dad), their childhood friend, and myself would all fly in for a birthday weekend, and suffer through what would otherwise be a fairly familiar scene of a blowout loss. We sat around the night before eating Sahlen's with webers, ted's,  and everything else that brought these guys back to the glory days. We talked about starting Cousins in fantasy (have to admit, I did...) and we all expected the worst, but would have a great time reuniting for the game regardless. The one silver lining we clung to was that maybe Minnesota would be looking past the Bills to the Rams game in LA on Thursday. But regardless of the outcome, it would be a time.

 

Have to say, amazing stadium up there. Completely different experience than most other stadiums that I've been to. Especially when we saw the beer stand at the section entrance, we knew we'd be just fine. Game started and everyone was ready for what was talked about all week. First 3rd down was a sack, and we were all getting up for the next round of drinks. Vikes fan behind me said "you're welcome" for that roughing the passer call, and sure enough, we were up 7 to start.

 

As most Bills fans do, we speculated before the game with practiced skepticism from years of disappointment, but it's something else to go to a game with three guys who grew up going to the Rock, running across the field after games as kids, talking about Jack Kemp, and literally aging with the franchise. As for most fans, it's a bit more than just a team. Once we were up and sent the defense out, we expected it all to come crashing back to reality, but the ball kept bouncing our way. Reminded me of the start of last season when our turnover diff was off the charts. Everything seemed to bounce the defense's way. One thing was definitely noticeable though: regardless of whether Counsin's was playing ahead to the Rams game or not, the defensive execution and play call was night and day from the last two weeks. One nice thing about that new stadium, first row of the upper deck gives you a great All-22 view for most of the game. Not sure what impact having Johnson back made to the secondary, but the Davis retirement must have lit some sort of fire under this squad.

 

Tip of the hat to the offense here as well. A few playcalls reminded me of the Pats offense from the past few years. Short throws, route options, and an actual run game that opened up the door for some play action. Unsurprising with Daboll when you think about his previous lives, but have to say the pass option fake to ivory in the flat to croom for the TD was a perfectly executed play call. I'd love to see more of this in the coming weeks which will really help Allen develop where the play calls actually help create separation for otherwise inconsistently-handed receivers. The Vikes just didn't seem to have an answer for much of anything going on, and at some point I thought I was watching the ravens game, but this time being on the right side of it.

 

I'd never seen my Uncle more excited since 1990, and he was really pulling for that shut out to ice off the cake. I still think Rudolph's  catch was questionable at best, but didn't mind the courtesy fantasy points for Cousins there. It was an experience and a half for me as a first game, even on the road, starting up Let's Go Buffalo chants and finding every Bills fan regardless of where they were in the stadium. Gotta give credit to Minnesota fans for being truly great people, and couldn't help but feel for them on some level having been on the receiving end of too many of these games. But walking out of that stadium chanting shout and having every Bills fan within earshot echo back brought the old guys back home. As much of a great first live experience it was for me, it meant the world to my Uncle and fam.

 

Whether it ends up being the only win this season, or first of more, I just have to say a true thank you to the team for playing the game they did against the team they played yesterday; a thank you to bills mafia for being the best travelling fans in the NFL; and for a long overdue first game experience I'll never forget. GO BILLS!

Edited by ctk232
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SF Bills Fan Veteran

SF Bills Fan

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Nice post. I wanted to go to the game and had access to tickets and field passes, but couldn't make it from west coast. I'll regret that for a long time. That stadium does look incredible. I also feel like Vikes fans are good folks, so even blowing them out wouldn't cause people to act out. my buddy that was there said there were a surprising amount of Bills fans there. 

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JerseyBills All Pro

JerseyBills

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 ,  V£@Lucky man. I'm a die hard from North Jersey , only ever seen them versus the Jests at the Meadowlands. Last game was 2016 , man you might have went to the game that truly turns us into contenders for the first time since the early 90s. Even if we fall short this year, if Allen, Edmunds,Milano etc continue to progress , this is one helluva core to add 90 mil in Free agents to . McDermott and Beane came in with a clear vision and I love the vibe of the locker room, championship makeup .

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ctk232 RFA

ctk232

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1 hour ago, Bring it said:

Nice! That must been great to be there!

 

Do you think you could fly in for maybe 12 more games this season? You know, karma and all that!!

We all said the same thing! Right around the third quarter when the 27-0 lead finally seemed legit, we said we'd have to buy round trip flights to Green Bay to keep it going. 

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