The quasi-mythical ‘12th man’ that’s made Lumen Field the stuff of legend in recent decades certainly played a role in the Seattle Seahawks’ Week 8 bout with the Buffalo Bills… just not in the way it traditionally does.

Bills Mafia, as they are wont to do, took over the downtown Seattle venue in Buffalo’s comfortable 31-10 victory, with Bills-centric chants oft-being heard over the broadcast. The Buffalo faithful traditionally travels well and supports their team on the road, with contests in Miami and Nashville being particularly popular away days for Bills fans; taking over Lumen Field is particularly impressive, however, as not only is Seattle roughly 2,600 miles away from Buffalo—the Seahawks’ fanbase is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s strongest and loudest.

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But Bills fans came in and overshadowed them inside their own home, an impressive feat that earned the praise of Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott and quarterback Josh Allen. Seattle quarterback Geno Smith even noticed the takeover, commenting on Bills Mafia’s strong showing during his postgame media availability. 

“Hats off to Buffalo,” Smith said. “They came in, they beat us at home. Their fans traveled well, it was real loud in there. Kind of felt like we were on the road at times. They came out, they fought, they beat us. We can say we made mistakes, but they capitalized. So those are things that we’ve got to get better at, and we’ve got a big week ahead.”

Buffalo fans post strong numbers in opposing stadiums regardless of location, but something that potentially played a role in their particularly strong Week 8 showing was the attendance of Canadian fans. The Bills have a comparatively strong Canadian fanbase due to Buffalo’s proximity to Canada (Highmark Stadium is just a few minutes away from the border, and Buffalo is less than 100 miles away from Canada’s largest city); with Seattle, too, not being too far away from the border, perhaps Bills fans from the Great White North (and the general western portion of North America) made the trek to Seattle, akin to how Toronto Blue Jays fans typically show out well when their club visits the Mariners.

Buffalo’s Week 8 win saw domination on all fronts, as it dwarfed Seattle in total yards (445 to 233), time of possession (38:03 to 21:57), and, where it matters most, points. Performances like these are a bit easier to pull off when you have the aid of a raucous faithful at your back; the Bills likely didn’t expect to receive this at Lumen Field, but they aren’t complaining, either.

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