Vikings fans have kindred spirits in Bills Mafia: ‘They understand our pain’

They know the game by heart, memorialized by a single play they have watched roughly a million times. That didn’t stop Buffalo Bills fans from cramming into Tom’s Watch Bar in downtown Minneapolis on Sunday evening to enjoy it all over again. One fan referred to it as “the Anthony Barr game.” Another described it as “Josh Allen’s coming out party.” That it came against a kindred spirit in Super Bowl suffering made the moment even more cosmically memorable. Advertisement “It’s so poetic,” said James Kurdziel, a Buffalo native who now calls Minnesota home. In his second start as an NFL rookie in 2018, Allen punctuated a breakout performance by hurdling over Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr in a stunning 27-6 win after the Bills entered as 16.5-point underdogs. That image soon became plastered across Buffalo, a sign of hope and reassurance that the team’s fortunes were about to change. A local chapter of the Bills Mafia (the fan base’s nickname) kicked off festivities for “Monday Night Football” by getting approval from Tom’s Watch Bar management to watch a replay of this 2018 game. They invited Football Across Minnesota to tag along.