Members of the Wesley Chapel Bills Mafia, the local support group for fans of the Buffalo Bills, were sent home heartbroken (again) from TrebleMakers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant at The Grove on Sunday, when their beloved Bills lost 27-24 to the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs to end their Cinderella season.
A little less than 200 Bills fans, most of them wearing the team’s signature royal blue jerseys, attended Sunday’s WC Bills Mafia Watch Party, which was sponsored by Rapid Access Wellness, LLC, and which featured some outstanding raffle prizes, as well as a sumptuous buffet provided by TrebleMakers.
The restaurant’s co-owner Jamie Hess, who is from the Buffalo area, has hosted many of these watch parties, but hopes were higher than ever this year that his beloved Bills would win the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl as the team was getting to host (for the first time) Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game. The team had to win its final five games of the regular season and a Wild Card Playoff Game over the Pittsburgh Steeler just to advance to face the Chiefs in the rematch of a 20-17 Buffalo win on Dec. 10.
But, it wasn’t meant to be. Despite holding the lead four times, QB Josh Allen and his Bills fell behind to stay when Chiefs’ RB Isiah Pacheco scored with 14:20 left in the 4th quarter.
“What are they doing?,” shouted one fan sitting next to me as the Bills were unsuccessful on a second half fake punt in their own territory, which ended up not costing the Bills any additional points because Kansas City fumbled the ball into and out of the Buffalo end zone a few plays after the failed fake punt, resulting in a touchback and the Bills getting the ball back. “How about just going for it on 4th and 3 instead?
The Watch Party also included some great raffle prizes — a jersey and a football signed by current star Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs, a mini-helmet and jersey signed by Hall of Fame former Buffalo running back Thurman Thomas and a 50-50 drawing for half of nearly $700 in cash.
“It was a great turnout and a great event,” Hess said after the Bills faithful left with broken hearts…again. “But, if the Bills could have pulled it out and kept winning, we could have had even bigger crowds for the AFC Championship and Super Bowl games. Oh well, maybe next year.”
Spoken like a true Bills fan, Jamie.
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