When will this European games madness stop?!

[RichardLee]

Fans hate it.  Players hate it.  Coaches hate it.  

But the NFL makes money out of it.  So there, take that fans, players, and coaches. Put that in your pipe and smoke it while we fill our pockets with money.

It is plainly obvious that jetlag is a major issue to the game, and that it even puts players' wellness at risk.  

When will this madness stop?  Never if we don't do anything about it.

Edited October 8, 2023 by RichardLee

[JJGauna]

Completely unfair to have a team play back to back overseas.

[Lionel Hutz]

The bigger problem is astroturf. Why does the NFLPA not demand real grass for outdoor stadiums?

[DaggersEOD]

We should just take the L and the extra bye and either not show, or if the “Bills” contractually obligated, don’t dress the starters until this BS ends.  
 

Soccer fields are maintained differently than Football fields too.
 

Soccer wants as much grip as possible as it’s not heavy bodies flying around. 
 

NFL fields need a bit of slip. All those injuries seemed to be because a limb got caught and rolled. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by DaggersEOD

[SUNTANBILLS FAN]

Never the NFL is money drunk

[QLBillsFan]

4 minutes ago, RichardLee said:

Fans hate it.  Players hate it.  Coaches hate it.  

But the NFL makes money out of it.  So there, take that fans, players, and coaches. Put that in your pipe and smoke it while we fill our pockets with money.

It is plainly obvious that jetlag is a major issue to the game, and that it even puts players' wellness at risk.  

When will this madness stop?  Never if we don't do anything about it.

Goodell wanted to experiment and see if it gave Jags an advantage! Wow and it did. Bills didn’t help by traveling Thursday .. poor preparation!

[SCBills]

It’s one thing when both teams face the same issues.  
 

It’s obvious to anyone who watched, and echoed during the broadcast, that one team looked like they just traveled and one team looked acclimated. 
 

Prior, the Euro games have just been boring and sloppy.   But on both sides.  
 

The travel edge was wildly noticeable.  
 

Any team put in our position next year has every right to raise hell on the league. 

[Aussie Joe]

It’s all about the $$$$$…

 

 

[Lionel Hutz]

Just now, SCBills said:

It’s one thing when both teams face the same issues.  
 

It’s obvious to anyone who watched, and echoed during the broadcast, that one team looked like they just traveled and one team looked acclimated. 
 

Prior, the Euro games have just been boring and sloppy.   But on both sides.  
 

The travel edge was wildly noticeable.  
 

Any team put in our position next year has every right to raise hell on the league. 

Why did the Bills wait until Friday to get there? They should have gone ASAP after the game on Sunday.

[SCBills]

1 minute ago, Lionel Hutz said:

Why did the Bills wait until Friday to get there? They should have gone ASAP after the game on Sunday.

In hindsight, I think the Bills would admit in private that they made a mistake. 
 

In fairness, that is what teams have been doing. 
 

However, no one has had to play a team already there. 

[aristocrat]

Players don’t hate it they get half that money 

[Chandler#81]

It will never stop. It’s call $$$.

[stevestojan]

50% of the teams leaving international games leave happy. If we want to blame “jet lag” (give me a ***** break on that, by the way) then McD needs to fly the team out there Monday morning last week. We got outplayed and injuries killed us. 

[Dr.Sack]

Bills looked out of sync and not crisp. 

[peterpan]

If they keep these European games I think they must become voluntary.

 

also, I heard on the radio that the field was a turf that was rolled out over the grass!?!? Is there any truth to this??

 

I’ve heard the soccer players complain about the field being destroyed by the nfl, so this is plausible 

Edited October 8, 2023 by peterpan

[Big Turk]

It won't. The NFL is working to build their brand globally which will lead to more money, bigger salary caps and bigger TV contracts and possibly international TV contracts at some point.

 

Which will all benefit the players who will rail against it but happily accept the larger paychecks every week.

 

[The Frankish Reich]

2 minutes ago, peterpan said:

If they keep these European games I think they must become voluntary.

 

also, I heard on the radio that the field was a turf that was rolled out over the grass!?!? Is there any truth to this??

 

I’ve heard the soccer players complain about the field being destroyed by the nfl, so this is plausible 

True. EPL requires real grass, but they won't let secondary events like concerts and NFL games ruin it. So they roll out an artificial turf field in Tottenham.

[Bferra13]

Would this thread exist if we won? Not a chance. But players and owners agreed on it. It ain't going away. Adapt and overcome. Maybe fly out immediately after the Dolphins game acclimate these players a bit more next time so they're not sleepwalking during the first half.

[Johnnycage46]

It's never stopping.  If the NFL smells money anywhere they will try to squeeze it out.  We'd have games on the moon if the NFL thought they could squeeze a nickel out of it.

Just now, Bferra13 said:

Would this thread exist if we won? Not a chance. But players and owners agreed on it. It ain't going away. Adapt and overcome. Maybe fly out immediately after the Dolphins game acclimate these players a bit more next time so they're not sleepwalking during the first half.

Stop making sense!  Sports Science yadda yadda yadda.

[Big Turk]

2 minutes ago, Bferra13 said:

Would this thread exist if we won? Not a chance. But players and owners agreed on it. It ain't going away. Adapt and overcome. Maybe fly out immediately after the Dolphins game acclimate these players a bit more next time so they're not sleepwalking during the first half.

 

Actually it would have because the Bills should have blown this Jags team based on what I saw.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Big Turk

[Fallser]

24 minutes ago, Lionel Hutz said:

Why did the Bills wait until Friday to get there? They should have gone ASAP after the game on Sunday.

That 6 hour difference is no joke. Friday was 2 days too late. 

[PBF81]

Never.  They said during the broadcast that they were expanding them.  

 

 

[Bferra13]

4 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Actually it would have because the Bills should have blown this Jags team based on what I saw.

That's fair. But maybe we should blame the Bills planning moreso than the venue. They knew the schedule before the season. Injuries happen. But I blame this on Dorsey. We didn't have to establish the run. We needed to throw the ball.

[PromoTheRobot]

European games aren't an excuse. 

[CountDorkula]

10 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Actually it would have because the Bills should have blown this Jags team based on what I saw.

The Bills should have blown out the Jets too…. I assume that’s also Jet Lag

 

its not like this team has a history of piss poor performances either…..

[Buffalo03]

Goodell sucks

[Bubba Gump]

31 minutes ago, Lionel Hutz said:

The bigger problem is astroturf. Why does the NFLPA not demand real grass for outdoor stadiums?

 

Tottenham Stadium is a natural grass field. But the NFL wanted them to put that rock hard turf in for the football games. Why take out the natural grass? Absolute joke by the NFL. 

 

And I agree, these international games are ruining the sport, along with horrible officiating. And good ol Roger says they plan on expanding the international games to Spain or Brazil next. Why not just make it an international sport? Goodell has ruined the NFL and keeps on going. 

[Buffalo03]

5 minutes ago, Bferra13 said:

That's fair. But maybe we should blame the Bills planning moreso than the venue. They knew the schedule before the season. Injuries happen. But I blame this on Dorsey. We didn't have to establish the run. We needed to throw the ball.

They apparently did a lot of research on it. The good thing is, we shouldn't have to make the trip there again for another 8 years

[KeLLy1278]

38 minutes ago, RichardLee said:

Fans hate it.  Players hate it.  Coaches hate it.  

But the NFL makes money out of it.  So there, take that fans, players, and coaches. Put that in your pipe and smoke it while we fill our pockets with money.

It is plainly obvious that jetlag is a major issue to the game, and that it even puts players' wellness at risk.  

When will this madness stop?  Never if we don't do anything about it.

It won’t.. but feel free to complain about it.  There will be more and more games played in Europe.  If you have pull in the NFL, voice your opinion.  If not, complaining about it again and again does what?

[PayDaBill$]

1 minute ago, CountDorkula said:

The Bills should have blown out the Jets too…. I assume that’s also Jet Lag

 

its not like this team has a history of piss poor performances either…..

So 24 hrs + to adjust has no impact? Big mistake arriving Friday. Playing a team coming off a 2 week stay is definitely relevant to this conversation.

[Punching Bag]

34 minutes ago, Lionel Hutz said:

The bigger problem is astroturf. Why does the NFLPA not demand real grass for outdoor stadiums?

 

Because business "partners" do not want to contribute? 

 

Because NFLPA would rather depend players deliberately injury other players sometimes post play?

 

They would rather NFL spend more money on NFL player guaranteed salaries.

[CountDorkula]

1 minute ago, Bubba Gump said:

 

Tottenham Stadium is a natural grass field. But the NFL wanted them to put that rock hard turf in for the football games. Why take out the natural grass? Absolute joke by the NFL. 

 

And I agree, these international games are ruining the sport, along with horrible officiating. And good ol Roger says they plan on expanding the international games to Spain or Brazil next. Why not just make it an international sport? Goodell has ruined the NFL and keeps on going. 

How has international games ruined the NFL. 
 

I get the bills lost, but these takes are wild. 
 

You get to watch football from 9:30 AM until midnight on the East Coast. I’d say that’s a pretty good damn Sunday

2 minutes ago, PayDaBill$ said:

So 24 hrs + to adjust has no impact? Big mistake arriving Friday. Playing a team coming off a 2 week stay is definitely relevant to this conversation.

That’s not international games fault. The Bills decided based on “science” they didn’t need to travel early. 

[Sandhill Mike]

Just now, CountDorkula said:

its not like this team has a history of piss poor performances either…..

 

I don't think that's fair.  Having followed those awesome years in the 90s and surviving the playoff drought and New England domination, I'm thrilled to have this team to pull for.  The offense didn't show up until the game was all but over and we were still in it, even with the defense decimated by injuries.  It used to be that McDermott gets blown out in losses, now the criticism is he loses close games.

 

We've lost some games but won lots more than we've lost with McDermott... and we've been playoff favorites for the last few years.  Having suffered through Brady's Pats and looking up at a deeper Chiefs roster, I think some fans compare and see anything less than doing what those teams did/do as failure.  We won't be out of the playoffs by Halloween and for that, I'm happy.

 

This team will make the playoffs and might win it all... just have to see how it plays out.  We've got one of the best QBs in the game, lots of really good position players, and a very good defensive minded coach.  Having to fight harder might make this team tougher and more dangerous.

[ToGoGo]

What money though? Is anybody in London even into this? I assume they’re taking a loss here. 
 

Just stupidity. 

[Shemp]

There needs to be some organized opposition to Bills management (in case they don't get it) expressing the inexplicable and useless trips to Europe. the NFL is hard enough as it is on home and away turf. Going across the ocean is beyond the pale and may have destroyed our season.

[TwistofFate]

The main problem with this overseas matchup is the fact that one team play back to back games over there with 10 plus days to get acclimated to the time change.

 

That was a huge disadvantage for the bills to come there and be jet-lagged while the other team was fresh and ready because of the extended stay and back-to-back weeks of games. I still can't understand why the Jags played two weeks in a row in London.

[BBFL]

These games are good if the teams have the appropriate time off. A bye week for both teams prior to the game. Certainly not a team there for 10+ days which is as good as a home field advantage when they aren’t even the home team. Bonkers. 

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, QLBillsFan said:

Goodell wanted to experiment and see if it gave Jags an advantage! Wow and it did. Bills didn’t help by traveling Thursday .. poor preparation!

Both teams playing in a ridiculous international game should have the same jet lag (10 hour flight) disadvantage.  Goodell is just a revenue w hore.

Edited October 8, 2023 by LABILLBACKER

[RyanC883]

2 hours ago, JJGauna said:

Completely unfair to have a team play back to back overseas.

 

and, have the second such game be a “home” gamw for the actual visiting team.  

1 hour ago, Buffalo03 said:

They apparently did a lot of research on it. The good thing is, we shouldn't have to make the trip there again for another 8 years

 

their research was wrong or relied on players sleeping in the flight over, which according to interviews did not happen. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by RyanC883

[BBFL]

1 hour ago, ToGoGo said:

What money though? Is anybody in London even into this? I assume they’re taking a loss here. 
 

Just stupidity. 

Beg to differ. They make bankroll there. Every single person pretty much buys some form of high end merch as a souvenir, not to mention other pieces of memorabilia; cups/hats/T-shirts/footballs of the international series itself.