What to know as Bills play in what's likely final game at Highmark Stadium
With the Buffalo Bills losing Sunday, the team’s regular season finale this weekend at Highmark Stadium will likely be the final game at the venue that opened in 1973.
The end is fast approaching for the more than 50-year connection between the Buffalo Bills and Highmark Stadium.
With the Buffalo Bills losing Sunday, the team’s regular season finale this weekend at Highmark Stadium will likely be the final game at the venue that opened in 1973.
The 13-12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles officially ended the team’s five-year reign atop the AFC East and means the Bills will be a wild card team in the playoffs next month, making it unlikely for them to host another game this season.
Buffalo Bills fans are preparing for what will likely be the final game at Highmark Stadium on Sunday
before the team moves to its new home across Abbott Road next year. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Tickets on the secondary market for Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. game against the New York Jets have gone up in price a bit from where they were for most of the season, but the game remains one of the most affordable this season at Highmark Stadium.
That could be because the game has lost some of its meaningfulness in the playoff race and the Bills may rest some of their starters, including quarterback Josh Allen. It is also going to be cold out, with the forecast calling for temperatures in the low 20s, which leads to more season ticket holders selling their seats. And some fans have already made sure to get to a Bills home game earlier in the season to bid farewell to the stadium.
“The Bills played nine home games this season, so it gave fans a chance to say goodbye to the stadium, tailgate and do everything Bills fans do,” said Nick Giammusso, president and CEO of Buffalo-based event ticket reseller VIPTix.
“They know in January the weather is going to be rough, so fans may have made plans to go earlier in the season, even if they had to pay a little bit more to go then,” he added. “Some of those games were really expensive, and Bills fans didn’t shy away.”
Here are five things to know about Sunday’s game – likely the final one at the current building before the team moves to its more than $2 billion new stadium next season:
Where Bills can move in standings
The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East title, and the 11-5 Bills fell to the third and final wild card spot as the seventh seed in the upcoming postseason.The team can still move up to as high as the fifth seed for the playoffs with a win Sunday over the Jets and some help.
The Bills would need the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans, both 11-5, to lose to move to the No. 5 seed, or at least one of them to lose to move to the sixth seed.
If Buffalo loses, they’re stuck at No. 7, because the Texans own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chargers and Bills, and the Chargers have the better win percentage in common games tiebreaker over the Bills.
Can Buffalo play at home in the playoffs?
Going from the seventh to fifth seed could be a big move, especially for fans hoping to see the Bills play again at home after Sunday.The Bills will play on the road to open the playoffs in the wild card round, no matter where they finish in the seedings, but if they remain as the seventh seed, they have no chance of a home playoff game.
Even as the fifth or sixth seed, playing a home playoff game is a long shot, but there is still a chance.
Buffalo would need to advance in the playoffs and hope that a team or teams seeded behind them also win. As the fifth seed, the Bills would have a chance for a divisional round game and AFC championship game at home, and as the sixth seed, they’d have a chance at only an AFC championship home game − if the seventh seed also made it that far.
Ticket prices for Sunday
The lowest price for Sunday’s game is now around $170, including fees, at VIPTix.com.For most of the season, this was one of the cheapest games to buy on the secondary market, at around $160 to get in. Giammusso expects about 2,500 seats to be available this week in the marketplace.
Bills home games in December and January often are on the less expensive side because season ticket holders are more willing to give up their late-season weather games.
This has been an expensive season to get to a Bills home game. The lowest prices have averaged around $250 a seat per game on the secondary market − way over face value. Season ticket holders were less apt to sell tickets this season, creating a decreased supply of seats in the market.
Buffalo Bills fans huddle in their car to stay out of the rain at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
It's likely this Sunday's game against the Jets will be the final one at Highmark Stadium. Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
Tickets for Sunday’s game against the Eagles were going for even higher prices – many for over $300 − and they maintained that value, despite the rainy weather, so fans who spent big to go to that game or throughout the season may be less apt to do it again this weekend.
Fans may also be saving up and planning a road trip for a playoff game. Potential first round sites for a Bills playoff game include Denver, New England, Jacksonville, Houston, Pittsburgh or Baltimore.
“We’re already getting those calls for playoff tickets,” Giammusso said. “Jacksonville is somewhere sunny, and a place where Bills fans would travel to for an easy get away. Pittsburgh is an easy drive, and Baltimore is another one that would be an easy flight. That’s certainly on their mind, since we didn’t win the division and fans are forced to go on the road.”
Starters may not go against Jets
Fans may also have less desire to attend this weekend’s game because it is possible the Bills will not play all their starters.One of the bigger draws in attending a Bills game is seeing Allen play, but he is already nursing a foot injury and, with a division title no longer on the line, the Bills may decide to sit the reigning MVP and rest him for the start of the playoffs.
However, running back James Cook III, another big draw for Bills fans, could still play as he vies for the NFL rushing title. He now has 1,606 yards, and leads that race by 47 yards.
Why Bills are playing 4:25 p.m. Sunday
The NFL now waits until most of the Week 17 slate is complete on Sunday night to announce the date and times for regular season finales.The league does this to ensure that the most meaningful games are placed in the best viewing spots and there are fewer competitive advantages in the timing of the games.
For example, the three games that pit teams playing against each other for a division title are all in stand-alone spots Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday night. Most other games that have relevance in specific playoff races are being played at the same time Sunday.
The Bills will play at the same time as the Chargers take on the AFC West division winner Denver Broncos, but the Texans will meet the Indianapolis Colts before that, at 1 p.m., as Houston vies with the Jacksonville Jaguars for an AFC South Division title.
The Baltimore Ravens travel to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Sunday night game at 8:20 p.m. to determine the AFC North champion. The winner will finish as the fourth seed and play the fifth seed in the wild card round. The top seed gets an opening round bye, while the second seed plays the seventh seed and the third seed will play the sixth seed.