Bills fans and players alike are counting down the moments until the Bills take the field to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night.
Bills players expressed their excitement in anticipation of playing under the lights for the first time at home this season.
"You know, I'm ready," DT Ed Oliver said. "Ain't nothing like a primetime game, Thursday night or Monday night game, at home. It's going to be loud; it's going to be under the lights… I like playing underneath the lights."
"Very excited," QB Josh Allen said. "Bills Mafia - they live for games like this. So hopefully we have them in the building, and they're as loud as can be, making as much as noise when the opposing team is on offense and hopefully, they're quiet when we're on offense. Best fans in the league."
"I mean, this one, it'd be this one, to be cool, playing in front of Bills Mafia," EDGE Von Miller said. "You know, that's what it's all about, man. You know year 14, man, of course, you love playing football, but playing football in front of the world, like it doesn't get you know any better than that… And it's gonna be fun. Monday Night Football, everybody's watching."
The excitement is felt throughout the locker room as DE Dawaune Smoot prepares to play in his first game of the season after missing the first two games of the season with a toe injury. He cannot wait to join this group of pass rushers that has seen success early.
"Oh, excitement level is huge," Smoot said. "Like just seeing them guys go out there and kill it the last couple weeks, man, I just know when I come back, it's gonna be even better."
Enthusiasm is felt beyond One Bills Drive as fans from Orchard Park and beyond get ready for kickoff.
Buffalo Bills Season Ticket Member of the Game, Bill Schell, who has been a season ticket member since 1999, his son, and two grandchildren are ready to drive in from Canada for this game and can't wait to experience this atmosphere again. Schell said that he has been to nearly every Bills game since he became a season ticket member.
"We've gone through snow, ice because we come in from Canada," Schell said. "We're about two hours out, but we've gone through every possible scenario, weather wise, to get to the games. And we just enjoy it. That's just part of our DNA. It's part of our family life. It's just football season is a big part of our family life. So now we got the grandkids involved, and it's becoming more special."
Schell is not the only one enjoying this experience with his family. Orchard Park native Glen Echeverria is also going to be taking in the game with his family and friends and tailgating.
"The most important thing for Monday night and the Bills games in general, that's my time for my son and I and our family and seeing all the other Buffalonians and us crazy Bills Mafia," he said. That's our time out. We enjoy it… Monday Night Football is something real special in our household and our family, and when it's any time it's here in sunny Buffalo, New York, then we're always ready to just go crazy. Have fun at the tailgate number one, but number two, support our team."
His favorite part of being part of Bills Mafia is that not only is he bringing his family but being one big family with everyone wearing Bills gear.
"It's always about family and friends and then when you get to the parking lot, everybody to your left and right, as long as they got that Bills gear on, that's family, no matter what. That's the beautiful thing about Buffalo… when they got that Bills gear on, it's game time."
Adding further to the excitement, John Fina is the Legend of the Game, and he expects an electric atmosphere.
"I think by and large, the best part of that is reliving being on the field with 70,000 plus people screaming back down at you, now, obviously, and I'm not playing in the game, but there's something to behold," Fina said. "When those sound vibrations start hitting you and you're at field level, it's exhilarating, and I'll be all smiles, for sure."
ESPN broadcaster Louis Riddick who will be calling the game along with Dan Orlovsky, Laura Rutledge and Chris Fowler, compared Buffalo to a college football atmosphere, stating that there is no other environment like it in the NFL.
"There is probably not a closer-knit group of fans than there are in Buffalo, and they love this team," Riddick said. "The stadium gets rocking. Every time that I've been there as a fan, every time I played there as a player… It was never good for the opposing team. It's never good for opposing fans. It's all good for the for the fans of Buffalo, I expect nothing different when we get up there."
The Bills know that they have a challenge ahead of them when the Jaguars come in. Despite their 0-2 record, they have gotten the better of them the last two times that they have played, including a game in the 2023 season in London.
"They're a good team," Bills head coach Sean McDermott said. "Yeah, they're a good team. And we respect every team that we play. And I think that's where it starts and that's where it ends. We have a lot of respect for the Jaguars."
A behind-the-scenes look at the 2024 Buffalo Bills team photo.
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