Orchard Park, NY– The Buffalo Bills christened their gorgeous new Highmark Stadium on Thursday, September 17, as Josh Alen led the Bills over the Detroit Lions, 41-31. This was a perfect beginning to the season for the Bill’s, who many believe will represent the AFC in next year’s Super Bowl.

Buffalo raced out to a 21-0 lead on the broad shoulders of Quarterback Josh Allen. Allen accounted for five total touchdowns, three by passing, two by rushing, to totally dominate the game.

As far as the quarterback on the other side of the line, ex- ram Jared Goff threw 4 touchdowns of his own, including two to all-pro WR Amon-Ra St.Brown, however Detroit could not stop the explosiveness of the Bills offense. But the night belonged to the state of the art stadium making it’s debut.

● the project cost $2.2 billion. It includes $850 million in taxpayer funding ($600 million from New York State and $250 million from Erie County), marking the largest taxpayer cost ever for an NFL facility. Its features scream that it was money well spent.

 

● a natural grass field equipped with underground heating coils to prevent the turf from freezing during late-season games.

 

● despite Buffalo’s brutal winter climate, the stadium remains open-air. It features a steel canopy covering roughly 60% of the seating bowl to block wind, rain, and snow while amplifying crowd noise. It also includes the world’s largest stadium snow-melt system that uses roof sensors to automatically monitor and melt snow that piles up to a dangerous amount.

 

● traditional metal bleachers were replaced with individual seats. A steeper seating grade brings fans an average of 50 feet closer to the field, designed to mimic the loud atmosphere of a giant hockey arena.

The Bills eventually prevailed forty one thirty one in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. It was as if the teams knew that this was opening night for the stadium and they played accordingly. This was by far the best game of the young NFL season. Time will tell if the Buffalo Bills make it to the Super Bowl or the Detroit Lions for that matter.

But for one moment in September, the fans were treated to some outstanding NFL football.