NFL Schedule Dates Arrive for Buffalo Bills

ORCHARD PARK, NY – Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 2024-25 NFL schedule:

1. The first part seems brutal.

Four of the Bills’ first six games will be away. This stretch includes three consecutive road trips to Baltimore, Houston and the Jets. This is the first time since 2015 that the Bills will play three consecutive games on the road.

The Ravens and Texans are among the toughest opponents the Bills will face. The Jets are a mystery.

However, if Aaron Rodgers is still healthy when he faces the Bills on October 14 and has developed chemistry with his teammates that he was unable to due to the season-ending Achilles tear he suffered four times in the 2023 schedule, the Jets could also be a problem. Their defense should continue to be solid.

2. The Bills have reached new heights as prime-time darlings.

True, they are scheduled for five prime-time appearances, two fewer than a year ago. But the first three will be played over consecutive weeks: Thursday September 12 in Miami; Monday, September 23 at home against Jacksonville and Sunday, September 29 at Baltimore. Including a Monday night game against the Jets on October 14, that will be four prime-time games in five weeks.

It doesn’t matter how much roster change the Bills are going through on both sides of the ball. It doesn’t matter that they are a younger team. The NFL still considers the Bills television gold.

3. Surprisingly, the NFL opted not to place the Bills’ Sunday, October 6 game against the Texans in prime time and instead scheduled it for 1 p.m. ET.

The obvious history of Stefon Diggs facing his former team apparently wasn’t enough to convince the league that this was worth playing in front of a national television audience.

My best guess is that the NFL is more focused on whether the Texans will, in fact, be as hot a club as they were last year with the uncertainty of whether quarterback CJ Stroud will be able to repeat the rookie magic he showed.

4. The closest schedulers have given the Bills a break is between Oct. 20 and Dec. 1, when they play four home games in six weeks.

This streak begins with a home game against a seemingly beatable Tennessee Titans team on October 20. After that, the Bills will be in Seattle on October 27, return home to face Miami on November 3, be on the road against Indianapolis on November 3. 0.10 and will face the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at home on November 17.

Next comes the Bills bye, which, for the second straight season, comes late in the schedule. The obvious benefit is that it gives players more time to heal and refresh before the final six games of the regular season.

5. The bad news about the top three of the Bills’ final six games is that they face what, at least for now, appears to be one of the strongest teams in the NFC: San Francisco at home on 1st December, at the Rams on December 8 and at Detroit on December 15.

Note that the Lions game marks the second of two where the Bills will have less recovery time than their opponent (Detroit will have played the previous Thursday evening). The Bills will also face Baltimore on a Sunday night after playing at Jacksonville on a Monday night.

But there is, at least for now, some good news. Two of the final three games will be against the New England Patriots, who are expected to struggle after hitting the reset button with a new coach and quarterback, at home on Dec. 22 and at Foxborough on a date and time. time to be determined.

These games sandwich a home clash with the Jets on December 29. To say the Bills could win a fifth straight AFC East title in these final three weeks is hardly an exaggeration.