HOUSTON — Week 5 of the NFL season brings the Buffalo Bills to state of Texas and the City of Houston.
The Bills return to NRG Stadium for the first time since the Wild Card loss in January 2020.
That was the last game the Bills would play before acquiring Stefon Diggs later on that offseason.
Four years later, the Bills are back in Houston, and no Stefon Diggs isn't on their team. This time, though, Diggs will in fact be on the field at NRG Stadium, lined up in the home team's colors, and catching passes from CJ Stroud.
It adds a unique element to this game for the Bills fans who made the trip to Houston. Bills Mafia gave their thoughts on Diggs' departure from Buffalo, and about watching him take on the Bills this weekend in Houston.
"It sucks he left, but I'm over him," said Robert Rozicki, a Bills fan from North Tonawanda. "He doesn't want to be here, we don't want him."
Added Cynthia Hieger, a Bills fan from Houston: "That's rough, but he gave us so many beautiful moments, catches. That is going to be tough though, I hadn't even thought about that."
For many fans, the good memories remain from Diggs' time in Buffalo, but they've also moved on to cheering on the present version of the Bills.
"There's no ill will," said Katie O'Brien, president of the Houston Bills Backers. "We'll follow the team's lead. He was great for us. He did a lot for Buffalo, but he's not on our team, so we don't root for him."
Added Shelly Brown, a Bills fan from Wheatfield: "I loved him when he was here, but I feel like it took away from Josh Allen throwin to other people. Now that we have a ton of weapons, I think it's great now."
In addition to the highly anticipated matchup on the field, Bills fans in Houston are eager to see Bills Mafia pour in throughout the weekend to create another heavy pro-Bills environment on the road.
"Bills Mafia invades every time," O'Brien said, with a party set up outside of Christian's Tailgate, the Bills Backer bar in Houston. "We throw a big street party here. We close down the street. We bring in everything people want. We have trucks of beer across the street in case they drink out what the bar has. We go in and show them what we do in Orchard Park, down here in Houston."
"We have a group that we always pick a place every year to go and Houston was the one this year," Brown said.
Rozicki added: "Just all week, we've been walking around just seeing everyone yelling 'Go Bills' no matter where we are. That's the best man."