Football is nearly upon us as the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets will kickoff the 2020 season from Orchard Park. There’s always a special feeling in the air in Buffalo during the home opener.
But special isn’t the word to use in 2020. “Different” seems more appropriate. The most obvious difference will be the lack of fans in the seats, since there’s going to be exactly none of them.
But that’s a league-wide issue since no stadium will have a full crowd on-hand… So sticking to things Bills-Jets related, here are five things to watch during their Week 1 game plus an outcome prediction:
Stefon Diggs’ first game
It’s really a crime that fans won’t be at Bills Stadium for this one. It’s perfect weather for fans to break out their Sammy Watkins Bills jerseys and replace the name on the back with duct tape. The name on those “new” jerseys would certainly end up being “Diggs” in most cases since that’s where all eyes are going to be on Sunday.
The move of the offseason for the Bills was to trade a slew of picks, including a first-round selection, to the Vikings, for wide receiver Stefon Diggs. It was easily the most bold move of the offseason for the team, but Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane hasn’t been shy during his tenure with the team. Will this move pay off? We’ll find that out way down the road, but certainly it’s going to be fun to watch Diggs play for the Bills for the first time.
Diggs has certainly shown throughout training camp that he’s a talented playmaker that Buffalo has lacked in recent memory. However, there’s Josh Allen to consider here, too. Both Diggs and Allen this week admitted that they might be pumping the brakes for their debut together since the pairing hasn’t had any time to build game chemistry yet. Does that mean Diggs might not make a huge impact out of the gate in Buffalo?