Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto :(

[muggins]

The Bills need to win this game if we want any miracle chance of a playoff run. Too bad it is in Toronto - the Ralph would be rocking this weekend for a game that means something.

I really hope the team has gotten themselves together during the bye week. Atlanta has had a long week to prepare. I haven't watched much of Atlanta this year so I'm not really sure what is going wrong there.

[jbd345]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

I think we got this despite being in Toronto. The NFL really screwed buffalo with their schedule this year. Most of the teams they've played are either coming off byes or coming off Thursday night games, not to mention not having a true "home" game a month apart. I have a feeling will make that run though, we are almost in the same position we where in '04 with easy games down the stretch. We need to win out first and foremost the pieces will fall into place if it's meant to be.

[55]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

The Bills need to win this game if we want any miracle chance of a playoff run.

"In the same sentence, those words do not belong."

[SPTO]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

I dunno, the atmosphere in Toronto was pretty good for the Redskins game a couple years back but was horrid last year so maybe that was a one-off. Anywho, I think the Bills should be able to win this one if the defense can put pressure on Matt Ryan. I'd have liked to see the Bills play the week after they whupped the Jets and Manuel looked so good. Hopefully this doesn't mean "bad EJ" will show up after the bye week.

Tis a shame the game will be played indoors considering how crappy the weather is around the region right now.

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

Bills probably lose. This is the game they always lose. The game they need to stay in contention. We already had one earlier versus Pittsburgh but this will be the second. Not to mention we are playing in that terrible Rodgers Center where the opposing team's fans outnumber actual Bills fans.

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if the United States and Canada would stop making a border crossing a hassle.

[KingV2k3]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

What's the Over / Under / Odds on Bon Jovi showing up?

http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/11/27/watch-taylor-swift-prince-william-and-jon-bon-jovi-sing-livin-on-a-prayer-video/

Quite the "Operation Photo Op" as of late...

[kehlis]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if the United States and Canada would stop making a border crossing a hassle.

So the fans of opposing teams have an easier time getting into Canada than Bill's fans do? Don't see how this is relevant at all.

[SPTO]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if the United States and Canada would stop making a border crossing a hassle.

If border crossings were the way it was pre 9/11 this whole Bills in Toronto thing would be 100% more successful in terms of atmosphere in the building.

[kehlis]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

How? Are there more Atlanta fans in the Toronto area than Bills fans?

I seriously don't get it.

[SPTO]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

So the fans of opposing teams have an easier time getting into Canada than Bill's fans do? Don't see how this is relevant at all.

Sorry for the double post but didn't see this when I first made my response

It's not that other fans are able to get here easier it's the fact that early on in this series they scheduled teams that had as big/bigger following in the Southern Ontario region than the Bills do.

I think the border crossing issue is one problem but the MAIN problem is that Toronto has a ban on tailgating. They can't even create an atmosphere outside the building before the game so it's a more buttoned down quieter crowd already (we Canadians are generally polite) but a crowd without any kind of "rah rah" feeling beforehand makes it seem even duller.

[kehlis]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

It's not that other fans are able to get here easier it's the fact that early on in this series they scheduled teams that had as big/bigger following in the Southern Ontario region than the Bills do.

What team's have a bigger following than the Bills in that region (serious question because I haven't followed which games have been played in Toronto).

I think the border crossing issue is one problem but the MAIN problem is that Toronto has a ban on tailgating. They can't even create an atmosphere outside the building before the game so it's a more buttoned down quieter crowd already (we Canadians are generally polite) but a crowd without any kind of "rah rah" feeling beforehand makes it seem even duller.

THIS makes a lot more sense to me.

I went to a Jimmy Buffet concert this year in Virginia where apparently tailgating wasn't allowed but most didn't know that before going. Talk about riots.


Just knowing how much people enjoy tailgating it doesn't surprise me at all that fans wouldn't want to travel to see a game there (whether it be fans from Buffalo or fans from Northern Ontario).

There are a lot of fans who enjoy the tailgating more than the game itself.

[muggins]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

Canadian fans aren't fans of the Bills

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk

[kehlis]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

Canadian fans aren't fans of the Bills

There's one in this thread???

[KingV2k3]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

The vibe at The Ralph is pretty much a hard partying / blue collar (barely) controlled riot...

That clientele ain't gettin' in OR out of Canada without incident...

[SPTO]

Re: Week 13: Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills in Toronto

What team's have a bigger following than the Bills in that region (serious question because I haven't followed which games have been played in Toronto).



THIS makes a lot more sense to me.

I went to a Jimmy Buffet concert this year in Virginia where apparently tailgating wasn't allowed but most didn't know that before going. Talk about riots.


Just knowing how much people enjoy tailgating it doesn't surprise me at all that fans wouldn't want to travel to see a game there (whether it be fans from Buffalo or fans from Northern Ontario).

There are a lot of fans who enjoy the tailgating more than the game itself.

I'll just deal with the regular season games:

The Bills played
Miami (not that big of a fanbase here)
NYJ (there's a few fans of the team here but I wouldn't say that they're as much as Bills fans)
Chicago (surprisingly, there's quite a few Bears fans in the Southern Ontario region and I remember the week leading up to the game how there were reports of people from the Chicagoland area coming up to the game)
Washington (no presence here really, which accounts for that game having the best atmosphere of all the Toronto games)
Seattle (I think this was more of a "this team is hot and the Bills suck" dynamic so it was a Seahawks crowd by default)

They had a couple preseason games early on with the Colts and Steelers and both teams have big fanbases here.

Canadian fans aren't fans of the Bills

Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk

That's a gross oversimplification. There are lots of Bills fans in the area but the problem is that throughout the life of this series the Bills haven't exactly given a great product. It's kind of hard to get excited for a team that is out of the playoff picture when you go see them play. I'm telling you, once the Bills get a taste of the playoffs the fans will be more vociferous.

Me, i've been a fan since 1990 and have never given up on the team and never will. I'm sure there's more than a few people like me out there.