Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - While things looked bleak when it came to the potential of playoffs for the Buffalo Bills just six weeks ago, a five-game winning streak helped the team vault back into the postseason and to another AFC East title.
With Sunday night's win over the Miami Dolphins, not only did Buffalo claim a fourth-straight division championship, but also the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs, meaning there's a chance the Bills will host a pair of playoff games at Highmark Stadium this January.
Buffalo's postseason run begins Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park when they welcome the 7-seed Pittsburgh Steelers to Western New York for an AFC Wild Card showdown.
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While many Bills fans are fortunate to see teams having to come through Buffalo this postseason, local businesses around Highmark Stadium are ecstatic to have, at least, another weekend of business stroll through Orchard Park.
"It's like Christmas came again, it's a gift," said Peggy Cerrone, owner of O'Neill's Stadium Inn on the corner of Southwestern Boulevard and Abbott Road. "We're so excited, especially with the way the season was halfway through. We were like, 'We're probably not going to see a postseason game,' and, as you can imagine, it's just such a bonus."
"It's absolutely so exciting," added Bernadette Singer, operations manager at Prohibition 2020 across the street on Abbott Road from O'Neill's. "We always look forward to home games, even just during the regular season. We are fully staffed every single Bills game, we work in increments, because they are long days. And it's just amazing to be able to go back to a place where we're gonna feel that energy again, and we're proud. Sharing that with everybody, being the closest adjacent to the Bills stadium, is just so amazing for us every single week."
Mark Ebeling, owner of Danny's South on the corner of Big Tree Road and Abbott Road says Monday was a great day for the whole area with the Bills getting the job done once again to cling the division.
"I don't even know what to think. It's gonna be crazy, I think. It's gonna be insane, it's gonna be nice," said Ebeling in an interview with WBEN. "It's about time. We've been down here 25 years and we've been waiting for this big day, so that's what it's gonna be."
While the local businesses put a significant amount of work into game days during the regular season in Orchard Park, Cerrone feels playoff games are like getting a worker's bonus.
"Your salary is the regular season, and then if you can get that extra game," Cerrone said in an interview with WBEN. "And people are just so much more excited. As the season goes on, people and the weather gets cold, not everyone goes to the game. They give away their tickets, or they just don't go. But with playoffs, every seat is full."
Ebeling also noticed the difference, especially on New Year's Eve with the Bills playing their final home regular season game against the New England Patriots.
"A lot of people gave their tickets away because it was New Year's Eve and they didn't want to be bothered. But I'm telling you, ain't nobody is giving a ticket away now," Ebeling said. "All my regular parkers are going to be here, they're not going to send their cousins and their aunts with their tickets and stuff like that. That'll be the big difference. It's going to be a big draw. It really is."
"With the regular season, I'm pretty sure fans and everybody feels like, 'Oh, I'll get to the next game. I'll get to the next game.' Playoff games, there are no guarantees, so you want to be there, you want to be experiencing that," echoed Singer. "That means no matter what, no matter what the weather is, no matter what's going on around us, those fans are going to show up and by volume. There's going to be so many. I think that difference just lies in the fact that it's going to be busier."
Another added bonus for Sunday's playoff game is Western New York will welcome a Steelers fanbase that, like "Bills Mafia", is extremely loyal to their team, but is also respectful and a pleasure to host.
"Steelers fans travel well," Cerrone said. "That's just extra serendipity that they're just down the Thruway, and so we're expecting a lot of Pittsburgh Steelers fans."
"They're gonna travel. It was just like Dallas. Dallas traveled here, and there was a billion Dallas fans. This is what's going to happen with this game," Ebeling added. "You're gonna have a lot of out-of-town people, and that's what we want. We want all the out-of-town people to come down here, we really do."
With a number of Steelers fans likely to be in Western New York come Sunday's game, it's also possible a number of them will probably come in on Saturday night, which could also add some business around the stadium.
"Typically, teams that are away teams, they stay the night before and they want to stay in the general area of the stadium. So I think that means our Saturday night will be busier than it normally is too, the night before the game," Singer explained. "We do have to make that little bit of a adjustment, as opposed to a standard Saturday night. But otherwise, we're ready. We're ready to rock and roll."
While the wait for the potential of hosting playoff games this January was uncertain for some time, all three businesses say they have been ready and anticipating the return of postseason football to Western New York for a fourth-straight season.
"I'm fortunate in the fact that most of my staff has been with me for 6-8 years, so they knew," Cerrone said. "The work schedule was made, but it was made with the intention of adding, if need be. So they're ready, they're hyped. We have our own little group chat going, and they're ready to go."
"We knew there was the chance, even though it was a slight chance," Singer added. "Our staff, they're so excited to work these games, they love it. We actually pull in extra people sometimes, and they're just so happy to be a part of it. We're not shy of staff at all when it comes to these games."
As for Ebeling, he says he avoided planning a vacation for this weekend for that reason, while his sister had to cancel her own vacation to remain in Western New York for Sunday's big matchup.
Where Ebeling is hoping there to be a specific factor for Sunday's playoff matchup in Orchard Park is the weather, as forecasters are monitoring the possibility of a significant lake effect snow event developing in the area leading into the weekend.
"I hope it snows. We've got to get, at least, a foot of snow to be cool, and it would just eat up the whole area. It'd be great," Ebeling said.
But will the potential threat of snow deter fans from taking in Sunday's do-or-die playoff matchup with the Steelers? Simply put, no way.
"Bills fans are so diehard, I don't think it matters what the weather is. I think they're showing up, no matter what," Singer said.
"Nobody's gonna miss this game. If you've got tickets, you're coming and you're gonna be hanging in the bar," Ebeling added. "It's gonna be nice, and like I said, it's gonna be good for all the area bars, and everybody around here, and all of Orchard Park. It's a big draw."
While Cerrone doesn't think the snow will stop fans, it certainly could complicate things.
"I think it was last year or the year before, we got significant snow during a game, and it was chaos when the game let out, because everybody was stuck. But it was typical Buffalo fashion, neighbor helping neighbor, everyone was out pushing and digging out," Cerrone said. "We're Buffalo. We can do it."
Sunday's kickoff in Orchard Park is slated for 1 p.m. EST.
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