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The good news is the Bills do make a priority to have home games be at 1:00 pm if possible. They know with many fans driving 1-2 hrs from all over it is the best possible time and they do understand people want to tailgate. Last season the Bills would've had 6 1:00 pm games with KC TNF and PIT SNF. I think people were really exciting with the two night games they got and the rest 1:00 pm games. Given this years schedule is lighter opponents I would expect potentially just one night game with the other two or three primetime games being on the road. Only IND-PIT sticks out as a real draw on night at this point although MIA has some clout and a TNF game isn't impossible either. I live in Rochester so 1:00pm games are a must but I don't mind a game or two that is late.

Not pass up but TV networks can protect certain games for their 4pm spot. Everyone will want Bills Bucs or Bills Chiefs. CBS has the ability to protect at least one and say we are keeping it for 4pm Sunday.

I don’t think the NFL cares as much anymore. This last year with the lack of CFB showed how much more they can gain. Even if it’s just one game the potential is there

The NFL prefers to have divisional matchups early and at the end of the year. So that is why that is there Additionally CBS can protect the Bills Chiefs as a 4pm game if they want. Given the viewership for that game I won’t be surprised if that happens.

Well we are on to a new year and I have a few early tidbits for people to know and a general bracket guess at what next year could look like. Before I get into the Bills matchups here are a few things people need to understand when it comes the schedule and how games are put on primetime, 4pm, and many Bills fans favorite 1 pm games. TV networks have the ability to protect certain games which impacts what games end up as a primetime vs which are 4pm. The 4pm slots are big for FOX and CBS to the point CBS made a point of keeping the Dallas - PIT game this past season at 4 pm despite how much the game was wanted for SNF or MNF etc.. With the TV deals being reupped there is a lot of talk that MNF games will see a better schedule of competition rather then SNF seemingly always getting the marquee game. The NFL stopped with the stupid divisional format on Thursday Night Football (TNF) which made for better more watchable games compared to the prior years. BUF-KC was a TNF game until the COVID mess with the Titans forced the game to Monday. What that means is that while BUF-KC may seem like a shoe in for a night game, it is very possible CBS protects it as a marquee 4:00 pm game. The same could be said for FOX with the Bucs - Bills. I doubt both happen but that is a real factor in schedule making. With the TV deals probably adjusting some of the matchups don't be surprised if you see more games flexible compared to previous years. The NFL really cares about its ratings and they will do a lot at the expense of fans and teams to accommodate that. Expect to see a few more games earlier in December. The NFL has had success having games on Saturdays in December and I would not be surprised if it starts as early as the beginning of December now. The NFL may be adding a 17th game now that the CBA has been approved. If the 17th game is added this year it will have the AFC-NFC take on a team in the cross conference that placed the same as them. For the Bills because we played the NFC East in 2019 we would get Washington as our 17th game as they finished 1st and so did we. This will create a few more high profile games in the schedule and in the future allow for some more fun matchups that we normally had to wait every 4 years for. The actual NFL schedule goes through 6-7000 versions before the NFL settles on one they like. The NFL does try to balance the schedule in terms of home and away matchups. For insistence the Bills opened on the road in 2018 and 2019 while opening at home last year. Before that Buffalo had flipped home/away since 2012. It isn't perfect but the league does make an effort. The last 2 seasons you could say that the Bills benefited from a nice schedule with the NYC back to back opener in 2019 before being at home for five of the next six games and in 2020 getting five home games in the first 9 plus a later bye week. Speaking of the bye week Buffalo has not ever had the dreaded week 4 bye week. In 2004 the Bills had a week 3 bye week (yikes), but since then the earliest Buffalo has had a bye is week 6. Last year the Bills had a bye week in week 10 so odds are it will be earlier. On a weird/good luck note both times the Bills had byes in week 6 on McD they made the playoffs (2017 & 2019). The schedule is typically not released until the end of April right before the draft. With COVID I could see it being delayed later so the NFL has time to make some decisions, but that is generally when it comes out. The Bills took on both West Coast divisions last season, but this year they do not travel past the Mississippi River with the furthest game being in KC. The Bills have been a very good draw nationally the last two years and currently are a favorite across the league for many casual fans. OK with all of that said I have some early guesses and these thoughts... we are in a whole new world with the Bills winning the division and making the AFC title game. The Bills played in five prime time games last year (TEN, KC, SF, PIT, SF & NE), six if count the Saturday Denver game. Additionally Buffalo also played two games at 4:00 pm (LV & ARZ). Half of the Bills schedule were not 1:00 pm games (granted with so many West Coast games primetime made sense) and I would not be surprised if the Bills are on 3-4 primetime games with a late Saturday showdown that they are one of the games able to be plugged in plus a 4:00 pm start. When you win and consistently win you get a lot more attention and non 1:00 pm games. The Bills do prefer to have more 1:00 pm games for out of town fans but being good means adjusting. Last year was kind of a perfect storm with the schedule and travel, this year is more subdued and matchups like New Orleans and Houston probably won't be as good looking with Brees likely retiring and Watson going somewhere else. If you like 1:00 pm football I would expect more then half the season will be back to that this year. Looking at this past year season the Titans had three primetime games heading into this last season and the Texans had the opening season game, Thanksgiving, and a 4:25 Ravens game. I used those two as examples for comparison considering the Titans played in the AFC Title and the Texans have a stud in Watson. The Bills have at this point more marquee players then either of those teams and do allure better so I would think they get a little more glimmer. Additionally Buffalos three division opponents give the Bills the NYC, Boston, & Miami markets for viewership compared to the AFC South which has Houston, Nashville, Jacksonville, & Indy. Not exactly murders row of big markets by comparison in the AFC South. I do think the Bills have a decent shot at playing the opener, but they do generally gravitate to conference teams facing off. Dallas will be high to open against TB and if Carolina gets Watson I could see them taking the game. I am not going to do a full schedule prediction but here is where I categorize odds of prime time game: Primetime Games (meaning TNF, SNF, or MNF): Tampa Bay (SNF) Indianapolis (MNF) Miami (TNF) 4:00-4:25 Kansas City New York Jets * If they draft a QB or get Watson Saturday Flex game: Tennessee The rest of the games I would expect to be 1:00 pm. I wouldn't be totally shocked if the Bills play the Patriots on primetime considering they have for the last 3 years, but unless the Patriots make a marquee move it does seem their shine has finally wore off and they will finally get a reduction in sun.

One thing that was really bewildering talent wise was how Chan and the team addressed or lacked addressing the QB position. Starting 2010 it was pretty well known they needed a guy and once Fitz cooled in 2011 it would've made sense to draft one that offseason. I always felt the shakyness and lack of plan at the QB spot limited the teams potential upwards. Even if the team would've made the playoffs in 2011 or 12 they weren't a contender and still needed a guy. Had the Bills properly went for a QB the way they did in the offseason when they drafted Allen they made have stabilized things earlier. EJ Manuel ended up not being the guy but at least they added weapons and had more of a plan when they brought him in.

I went to a preseason game when Peterman was the #1 QB and truthfully he didn't look bad I got the logic of let Josh sit so he could grow and start later. The problem with Peterman is that in a real NFL game at full speed his decision making failed and he didn't have the arm for side passes that need a punch. Every game he started outside of the Snow Bowl which conditions made moving fast impossible he threw INTs left and right. Additionally I think Sean knew he would've lost the locker room had he kept Nate in after the Baltimore game because it was the second time he just stunk it up.

I was at the Chicago game and it swung soo dam fast. You knew the Bears defense was like potentially historically good that year but the offense couldn’t help it enough. And yea our defense actually played pretty decent just zero help.

Def a good point also. It really was an up and down chaotic year

He would have helped the Bills break the drought faster and maybe got another playoff appearance, but I think his success would've been stunted twofold. The NFL evolved into a high passing league this last decade and I wonder if he would've been able to keep pace. Second who is the QB? We really lacked talent in 2010 and it took until 2012 to get back to a moderate amount of talent that amounted to something with 2013 starting to show the payoff at least on the defensive side. We had Fitz who is known as the best Qb to get you almost to 10 wins possible and nothing else. I could see him doing what Joe Gibbs did his second stint in WAS which had some success and stabilized the team at the time. The franchise certainly would've regained respect nationally which may have helped to get better players and personnel. But the Pegula's didn't purchase the team until 2014 which truly stabilized the franchise long term and the stadium/facility only started getting renovated from 2013 on which would've been nearly four years later. He would've had to stepped down medically in 2013-14 based on the medical reports above so his time would have been at most five years as HC. The team needed a good two years to build the foundation. So yes the drought would've ended and it would've stabilized a good amount of things. At the same point I think the ability for the team to be where it is now is pretty doubtful.

2017 was sooo up and down and weird. The Denver 90+ degree game week 3 was unnormal just because of the weather. Rex was more like shaking a can of beans and having zero clue what colors come out. 2016 week 1 hold Baltimore to 13 pts but score 7, week 2 score 30+ but lose because your defense couldn't stop a beach ball.

I was looking back on the last few seasons and the 2018 season is straight up such a weird outlier compared to virtually any previous season in the prior decades. Some of it was Josh learning his ropes and you always have interesting seasons with rookie QBs, but consider: Blown out in the opener causing the starting QB to lose his job and allow 47 pts Next week rookie QB takes over, CB retires at halftime, yet the score finishes 31-20 with the Bills making a decent finish Bills obliterate the largest spread ever (+13) and put 27 pts on the NFC title finalist Vikings Josh Allen hurdled a linebacker in that game. A QB hurdled a LB The Bills scored a total of 3, 0, 5, 6, and 9 pts in five games. The Bills also scored 42, 41, and 27 pts. The defense allowed 47, 41, 37, and 31 pts yet outside of those four games actually allowed on average 18 pts a game. Additionally all four of those games were in the first 9 games and two in the first two weeks. When the Bills beat the Jets they did so with their fourth starting QB of the season Barkley (Peterman, Allen, Anderson) who proceeded to score 41 pts. Also an offensive lineman scored in that game Against the Texans Nathan Peterman successfully cost the Bills the game with a pick 6 and then another INT on the next drive. I am not sure what the NFL record is but two INT's in 1:11 with one being a TD has to be close. The Bills cut Kelvin Benjamin mid season who they had acquired the season earlier to shore up the WR Corp. In general it was a rather memorable season for a 6-10 team, but a lot of the stuff that happen was really unique.

Schottenheimer isn't some offensive guru I never got the hype. Even his better offenses have received criticism for his lack of passing and insistence to run. The playoff game against DAL with SEA he got killed for waiting so long to throw the ball.

This is actually one of the more reasonable trade offers I have seen in a long time

Bills 28 Ravens 24 Tight tight game throughout, Buffalo gets a key stop in the 4th quarter to force a Ravens FG and the offense goes downfield to get an Allen to Beasley TD and make it 28-24 with 3 mins to go. Lamar makes some plays to get within striking distance but the defense holds and to the AFC title game we go. By the way I could see the reverse of this also. Allen 24-38 295 3 TDs 1 Int 32 yds Singletary 55 yds 1 TD Beasley 117 yds 1 TD 6 rec Lamar 165 yds 1 TD 1 INT rush 95 yds 1 TD

Agreed 100%. From predictions on this board to friends of mine sayin 31-13 a lot of people underestimated IND. They are a well coached detailed team with a good QB (Rivers was dynamite today) and good line play that made it tough. Some of the reaction to this game to me is that people are surprised Buffalo didnt win by more. I called 27-17 and had the defense not had a miscommunication on the last IND TD I was right. great game and hats off to the colts for pushing us that hard

This is pretty fair and reflects well. Tre maybe had a case for 1st team (although needed more INTs) as did Allen but the guys picked above I have no issue with.

Bills 27 Colts 17 Game feels similar to the Steelers but a bit closer. First half is a bit feeling out but Allen gets Bills a TD to Singletary and the Bills get a FG on their next drive to get a 10-0 lead with 5 mins to go in 1st. The Colts get a TD to close the half 10-7 Bills. Buffalo comes out with the ball and scores on a methodical drive to go up 17-7 with a Beasley TD. The Colts answer with a FG to get it to 17-10 at close of the 3rd quarter. Buffalo gets a turnover on a Rivers INT and scores another TD courtesy of Moss to go up 24-10 with 9 mins to go. The Colts get a TD to get close but Buffalo closes any hope with a FG late and the Colts run out of downs. Allen 21-32 289 2 TDs Moss 55 yds 1 TD Beasley 107 yds 1 TD Special Defensive Pick: White INT

MVP: Josh not even debatable Best new addition: Diggs Best rookie: Davis Best defensive player: Jordan Poyer. I think people do not realize how much he glues the defense and brings the energy at points to get them going. Turnaround of the year: Tremaine Edmunds. Whether it was injury, scheme not meshing early on, or just rust he was a straight up liability. The 2nd half of the season was his best play of his career. Obscure hero: Andre Roberts. Even though he didn't break a TD run, he set the offense up with field positions that made it real easier to score.

China Cat Sunflower! Finally got one I knew haha. Not a big Dead fan but always loved this song and the guitar work. The live version where they go into a I Know You Rider is superb

I've always wondered with the LED lights they have and power these days why they at minimum don't have yellow beams coming up to see what the ball went

The Bills and Browns droughts are really incredible because the NFL is designed for teams to rise and fall relatively quickly and make the playoffs by backing in at points. With the playoffs expanded to 7 teams aside I really doubt you will see a team hit a decade long drought any more let alone almost two decade again. Additionally the growth of young QBs being more and more pro ready and coaches willing to build their teams to those QBs strengths also narrows the gap that good teams use to have. I think most people would say the Bills are a better overall team then Arizona, but Murray gives them the ability to be competitive. The 49eres this decade went from competitive, to tire fire, back to competitive all over. I could really see BB retire after this year. Developing a QB is difficult even with the right tools to help them, they lack talent across the board, and they have two big teams in front of them with talent (BUF/MIA) plus the Jets probably getting T-Law. The smart thing for NE to do would truthfully be tear down for real for a year or two, clean cap, and build on picks so when they do take on the rest of the division they have a strong foundation.

And with the Cap at least staying the same if not possibly going down NE is an even harder option because you probably are taking a paycut if you come back.

In a way I've appreciated BB's ability to get what he can out of a crappy roster. I also see him as a crappy GM lately so he also created that side of things haha

Get back to me in 10 years if every season is like this. An old aging Patriots team also lost some good defensive players and the lack of bluechip talent caught them. Plus without Brady even if he is at 75% they finally are not what they were. It shouldn't be a surprise it happens, but drought Bills you need to go like a decade of ineptitude, this wasn't ineptitude time just finally caught them thank god.