After spending the night in Rochester, I had to drive to Buffalo to get to New Era Field (Ralph Wilson Stadium in the old days) for the Titans and Bills tilt. Traffic was smooth and although there was an accident on I-90, Google Maps guided me on surface streets for the last few miles to save a bit of time and frustration. As I was flying out of Rochester at 6:50, I needed to park away from the crowd, and found a spot at Big D Tire Shop on US-20 east of California. It was only $10 to park here (compared to $30 in the official lots) and about a 15-minute walk to the stadium.
For those of you who don't recall my 15 minutes of fame back in 2014, I called Bills fans the drunkest in the league in my book. This throwaway comment became a viral sensation for a few weeks and I did several radio interviews for stations around the country. On a return visit a couple of years later, there were more drunken antics. But on this visit, fans seemed sober and excited about the game. What happened Buffalo?
Since I described the stadium in detail during my 2013 trip, I won't repeat myself here, instead showing a few photos, such as the Throwback Zone above, with past Bills logos on display. Below is the lower level concourse, which is clean and devoid of drunks about an hour before kickoff. Mostly because they are all still tailgating.
On this day, I had picked up a first row ticket in Section 115, which eliminated the concern about having people standing in front of me. The seat turned out to be right by the goal line. Although this is not the best place to sit to see the formations, when the action occurs right in front of you, it can be a visceral experience. Below is the Bills defensive line running drills before the game.
Before taking my seat, I wandered around and snapped pictures from a few different angles. Below is from the west end zone.
A short turn to the left and you see the red club seats along the north side.
Another quick turn to the right and you have the south side, with the press box. Note the middle sections extend a bit higher here.
The shot below is taken from Section 217 right next to the club seats. They are not plush seats, but the overall area is quite a bit calmer than the rest of the stadium.
Finally, an overall shot of the stadium from the east end zone, with the main video board in the distance.
As I was seated in the first row, I did not see many fans, so was not aware of any drunken behaviour. But those fans in my immediate vicinity were well behaved and sober. That is not to say they weren't drinking, but they were keeping it under control. It was quite the difference from my visit 5 years ago. I'm sure there were plenty of inebriated folks, but I just didn't come across them. It just shows that the experience at a stadium can differ depending on many factors, such as seat location, time of arrival, and the game itself.
Overall, New Era Field is one of my favourite spots, and now that I have figured out the parking situation, I look forward to returning on a regular basis.
The Game
This was my third trip here, with the Bills losing the previous two. Tennessee came in at 3-1 after a huge win over the Eagles, while Buffalo was 1-3 and had been shut out by Green Bay the week previous.
Buffalo won the toss and deferred, so Tennessee got the ball to start. On their fourth play, Marcus Mariota (#8 above) found Taywan Taylor for a short gain but the ball was stripped and Buffalo recovered. Things were looking good early!
Josh Allen (with the ball above), making the fourth start of his rookie season, then led the Bills on an 11-play drive that culminated with him running the ball in from 14 yards out. Unfortunately, it was in the other end zone, but I did get to see the guys with flags celebrating in front of me.
Turns out that was the only TD of the game. Tennessee's Ryan Succop managed two field goals in the first half to get within a point, while Buffalo's Steven Hauschka added one in the third quarter to make it 10-6 Bills. The Buffalo defense continued to frustrate the Titans, and twice more they had to settle for field goals to take a 12-10 lead. After receiving the kickoff following that fourth field goal, Buffalo started from their 35 with 4:43 left, with Tennessee holding two timeouts to the Bills three. Then began a brilliant drive. I had moved up as I needed to exit quickly, and watched from midfield as LeSean McCoy gained a yard, leading to booing from the fans. But Coach Sean McDermott knew what he was doing - short runs and passes to keep the clock moving. McCoy scampered for a 13-yard pass and run on 3rd and 3 to keep the drive going early. A few plays later, a 9-yard gallop from Chris Ivory took us to the two-minute warning, after which Tennessee used their two timeouts, with the second stopping the clock at 1:37. But Buffalo had a first down at the Titan 33 and ran the ball twice to get to the 25 with 17 seconds left. Allen ran the ball to the left hash, the Bills took a timeout, and Hauschka came in to win the game. With no timeouts to ice the kicker, Tennessee could only watch as Hauschka calmly nailed the 46-yarder (below) and the Bills had the 13-12 win.
Proof that I had stayed to the exciting finish!
The main scoreboard immediately changed to the Shout song, but I was off and running, hoping to beat the traffic back to the highway.
This was a great game, taking only 2:46 to complete, exactly what I needed since I was flying out of Rochester. It was a bit disappointing that there were few plays in front of me but with the Bills winning, that will be quickly forgotten. I know most fans like high-scoring games, but I prefer games with teams that can grind it out when they need to, and the Bills did just that on this day.
Notes
The game finished at 3:48, and I raced to the car, getting there at 4 on the dot. I was able to take California north to Milestrip, turn right and take the 219 North to I-90, beating the traffic and reaching Rochester before 5:30, including a stop for gas. Very happy that I did not have to leave early for this one.
Next Up
Off to Cincinnati for the Steelers on Sunday as they are one of the last three teams to see on the road (Tampa Bay and Green Bay are the other two). As always, check back for recaps.
Best,
Sean
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