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Week 3 of the 2025 season. Consecutive recreation quantity 85. And never simply any recreation, a back-to-back divisional matchup below the lights in Orchard Park, NY, the place the Payments prolonged their very own streak: 13 straight regular-season house wins at Highmark Stadium.
Thursday evening video games are their very own animal. Usually, I say recreation day begins the second I get up, however this one felt totally different. I flew into Buffalo late Wednesday evening, near midnight, and Thursday began much less like recreation day and extra like another workday. Espresso, laptop computer, lodge Wi-Fi, clocking in early, getting issues executed. However by 3 p.m., I logged off, shut the laptop computer, and was pulling into the stadium lot by 4.
From there, it felt like recreation day for actual. Mafia is aware of my carpool accomplice properly: “Torpedo Dan.” And should you don’t, you’ll always remember him when you do. American flag speedo, each single recreation, irrespective of the climate. Strolling with him is like strolling with a celeb, it takes thrice as lengthy to get anyplace as a result of everyone desires a photograph. Begrudgingly, I’ve turn out to be his hype girl. However actually, he handles all of it with a lot humor and style that you would be able to’t assist however like it. The shock on folks’s faces the primary time they spot him units the right tone for an evening of tailgating.
And the tailgates didn’t disappoint. I obtained to lastly meet just a few buddies from Twitter (or “X”) in particular person, Tiffany with the contagious smile, and a husband-and-wife duo I’ve recognized on-line for years. These are the sorts of moments I really like most: turning on-line connections into actual life Payments Mafia friendships. I made my typical rounds too; Mama J, Pinto Ron, and a few of my favourite folks like Del Reid, Jack Shaft, Celeste, and Heather. The climate was good — not as soon as did I really feel chilly, which says quite a bit for this transformed South Florida lady. You continue to can’t take Buffalo out of me although.
As for the sport itself? The Payments took care of enterprise in opposition to Miami, securing a 10-point win. It wasn’t fairly in all three phases, and you may really feel the sense that Mafia could be a bit spoiled nowadays, we anticipate clear, dominant wins each time. However a divisional win below the lights at house? You’re taking these each time you may get them.
Recreation 85 is within the books, however the journey continues for me. The Payments keep house in Orchard Park for Week 4, internet hosting their first NFC opponent of the season, the New Orleans Saints. A Sunday afternoon kickoff at 1 p.m. on September 28. I’ll be there, able to soak in one other chapter of this streak, surrounded by framily, buddies, and the Mafia.
