Game 01. Titans 21-Bills 18 Fawcett stadium

Hans and I sat next to each other and I completely forgot to bring a cushion. It was only yesterday that my arse had been killing me from the metal bleachers at Fawcett stadium, when I was at the 09 Enshrinement, and I forgot to bring a seat, grrrr! The weather was cooling down and it was nearly a full house. Oddly, I reckon there were more people in the stadium the night before for the enshrinement as there was for this football game.

Both sets of cheerleaders came out during the pre-game show and danced with gusto, and got many an applause. I spotted plenty of Bills fans, but there were also jerseys from all of the teams on display. There was an excitement in the air because of Terrell Owens, who was all set to make his debut in a Bills jersey. Both sets of players ran out of the inflatable Hall of Fame helmet, and they were wearing their original 1960s uniforms. The Bills sporting their classic retro red Bills logo on their helmets, while the Titans actually came out wearing the original sky blue Houston Oiler jerseys, as the Titans used to be the Houston Oilers.

All eyes were on T.O and you could not miss him. He wore red gloves, red shoes and when he was not wearing his helmet he had on a red hat, not that he likes to stand out or anything! Hans mentioned that even if you do not like T.O he brings something great to the team. For many years the Bills have really been personality-less and T.O certainly has a big personality...and he can play. Though the Bills fans would have to wait to see their new star in action for a little longer as it was the Titans that had the ball first.

The Titans were not making much of their first drive at first and were stumped at the 50 yard line and decided to punt. No one saw the next play coming. The Titan punter faked his punt and set off racing down the sideline. That’s what I like to see in the pre-season, good old fashion trick plays. It shocked the Bills players and fans as the punter had his moment of glory in the Bill’s end zone and the stadium became rather quiet, except of course for Lady Titan and Mr. Titan just below me who were dancing the boogie. The “Let’s go Buffalo” chants were soon deflated. It was supposed to be more like a Buffalo home game with the two Bills being enshrined last night, but they had very little to cheer about.

T.O then graced the field on Buffalo’s first drive. On his first play he got pushed around, trying to block, but on his second play he made a sweet catch for a gain of fifteen yards. Despite it being a pre-season game the Titans came out with some hard hits, and after just two catches T.O was done for the night. A Titans interception and another TD looked like it was going to be a one way game. 21-6 to the Titans was the score at half time, and I stretched my legs as my bum was so sore from the metal bleachers.

The half time show was a tame marching band and there was little in the way of “extra trimmings” At NFL games I have almost come to expect fancy video displays, fan give-aways and competitions, but there was none of that, it was pure football with a few instant replays thrown and some may think that’s how it should be.

During the third quarter the announcer asked all of the PFUFA fans to stand up and once again it was an honour to sit with all of them during the game. A lady from Buffalo to my left gave me a gold coin for good luck on my travels this year and to be honest the Bills defence needed it as they looked porous especially against the pass. Vince Young played the second half and he looked strong and accurate. The Bills finally pinned the Titans back but the Bills punt returner muffed the catch and gave the ball right back leading to another Titans TD, orchestrated by a fine looping pass from Mr. Young, and then the game was practically over.

On a separate note, I noticed that the Buffalo Bills have a player called “Huggins”, which has to be the least NFL sounding name out there!

The Bill fans finally did see a touchdown. The Bills cornerback, named Corner, got beat deep and left his receiver open as he done so most of the game, then oddly the Titan’s QB simply threw it straight at him and the player who played poorly got his interception, which lead to a Bills Touchdown. Joanie, the Buffalo Bill’s PFUFA fan began pumping her Bills pom poms like an excited teenager and her teenage days were many moons ago, but it just goes to show how much life football can inject into someone.

It was too little too late for the comeback and many of the fans had left, leaving the scoreline to end 21-18, which sounds a lot closer than it actually was. The Titans gave up a safety in the last play by running out of the end zone with the ball to run the clock down, which I thought was rather bizarre.

Towards the end, T.O was getting interviewed on the sidelines, which I thought is a bit rude considering his team are still out there playing, plus he barely even played. After the game, myself and the remaining PFUFA members, sneaked onto the corner of the field, which is a kind of astro turf and as a group had our picture taken, which was great. Mr. Titan then gave us a lift in his tailgating bus back to the hotel. His bus is exquisite, lavished in leather furniture, air conditioning, funky lights, carpet, blacked out windows and of course a high Def flat screen...it’s the best way to travel after a good game!