‘Team Marketing adds up a “fan cost index” each year for a family of four, which includes four tickets sold directly through the team, parking, two beers, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, and two team hats. In Buffalo, the “fan cost index” was $457 last year.’
Archives for September 2021
Bills Mafia wins #FOXFanBracket as best fans in the NFL for second consecutive year
‘Known as the #FOXFanBracket, Fox Sports creates polls on Twitter that allows fans of NFL teams to go head-to-head to determine the best fan base. The team that has more votes at the end of the poll is declared the winner. The team then moves on to the next round to go head-to-head with another fan base until the bracket is complete and a champion is crowned.’
Bills superfan Pinto Ron cancels ketchup/mustard spectacle due to COVID concerns
‘“We’ve been talking about this for quite awhile,” said Johnson, who also had open-heart surgery this spring. “The last couple years we got very large crowds out there and with COVID this year there’s a lot of uncertainty and a lot of people were nervous about it.”’
Cattaraugus County native to fly military plane over Bills home opener
‘“It was surreal, to say the least,” said Blue, a lifelong Bills fan, who twice had the chance to play football in the stadium as a high school player for the Portville Panthers.’
Bills defense preparing for Ben Roethlisberger offense
‘”I feel like with the guys we brought back we are out there communicating in practice,” Buffalo safety Micah Hyde said. “The preseason games we were out there having fun, flying around and doing those type of things, so I feel great just as a defense, where we are at, but we have to go out there on Sunday and show it.”‘
Carucci Take2: Let’s count the ways the Bills will live up to the hype
‘The Bills will face a challenge of their own trying to contain rookie running back Najee Harris. Doing so could be more difficult with the possible absence of tackle Star Lotulelei, who has been dealing with a calf injury. That’s even more reason for the Bills to have a solid running game of their own. The Bills will rely on their usual formula for success, with an explosive, quick-striking passing game leading the way.’
The countdown to kickoff is on for the Buffalo Bills
‘”It can only help that our DB’s go against our guys,” McDermott said. “I’m sure their DB’s feel the same way. It’s a good battle competitively on our field here, as you see it. It can only make you better if you’re wired the right way. That’s an important approach, if you will, that we have that we keep trying to be as competitive as we can through practice to make games very familiar for us.”‘
‘This business comes full circle’ | How Jerry Hughes developed into the defensive line’s veteran mentor
‘Hughes and Addison exchanged texts during this year’s draft, which saw the Bills double up on defensive ends by selecting Gregory Rousseau during the first round and Boogie Basham in the second. Later, on a Zoom meeting with the defensive line, the two veterans noted how they had grown into the roles once occupied by Freeney and Mathis.’
What they’re saying | National analysts make these predictions for the Bills 2021 season
‘But deep down, everybody knows Allen is the quarterback most suited to beat Mahomes and whatever the NFC has to offer in the Super Bowl.’
Bills’ Cole Beasley: ‘We come out there with the mentality that nobody’s going to stop us’
‘“As an offense, you want to get to the point to where every time you step on the field, you’re getting points,” Beasley said. “I mean, I know that’s hard to do. But we come out there with the mentality that nobody’s going to stop us and we’re going to score. I think that confidence built some last year, and even the year before. But even more so this year.”‘
With Steelers stud back Najee Harris coming to town, Bills know they need to tackle better
‘According to pro-football-reference.com, the Bills ranked tied for sixth in the NFL last season with 125 missed tackles (the Raiders led the NFL with 143, while the 49ers were the best with just 69). The numbers on analytics website Pro Football Focus differ slightly, but tell a similar story. PFF charged the Bills with 136 missed tackles last season, which tied for ninth most in the league with Pittsburgh – Sunday’s opponent in the season opener at Highmark Stadium. Houston’s 155 missed tackles led the NFL, according to PFF, while the Los Angeles Rams led the league with just 97 missed tackles (a fairly wide disparity from the data kept by PFR, demonstrating the subjective nature of the statistic).’
The Editorial Board: Poloncarz dropped the ball by reversal on vaccine mandate for Bills games
‘A question confronting the Bills now is how much do stadium personnel need to act as mask police? The team requires all fans to wear a mask in enclosed areas of the stadium, regardless of vaccination status. Unvaccinated fans are required to wear masks at all times, except when eating or drinking. Is there any practical way to enforce those rules?’
Dynamic passing game leads Buffalo Bills explosive offense into 2021 season
‘“It’s harder when you’re playing well and people know that you can play well,” Diggs said earlier this week. “And then you’ve got to live up to a standard of playing well each and every day, each and every game. Last year is over. We can’t translate those wins, but what we can do is take what we did from the good side of it and translate it to this year and the things that we didn’t do well. We didn’t do X-Y-Z well, let’s make sure that’s a point of emphasis going into the year.”’
The Bills pinpointed upgrading their tackling as a key to defensive improvement this year
‘“When we started OTAs and the offseason program, we put a heavy emphasis on tackling,” Frazier said Wednesday. “That was an area we really wanted to improve as a defense, which we thought would also help our run defense. There were some other things that we emphasized, but that was probably the one thing we really harped on, improving our tackling.”’
Can Greg Rousseau, Bills’ revamped DL hit ground running vs. Steelers? (6 things to watch)
‘Buffalo should have their fair share of opportunities to exploit Pittsburgh’s offensive line, get after Ben Roethlisberger and hit the ground running in 2021.’