corta765

It is my belief the Bills are going to request a more scaled down schedule in terms of non Sunday games. Last year was a roller coaster just schedule wise as they played seven non Sunday game not including all of the other chaos factored in. By comparison the Chiefs played just three times. They already have to go to London which is a trek and they played three of the last four Thanksgiving. I imagine they will want a more normal Thanksgiving this year. The Jets though for black friday was talked about in this weeks Peter King FMIA piece. I have thought DEN could be our London game or do the Jags request if possible so they stay back to back weeks in London which is probably advantageous to some extent

NFL doesn't care. Rodgers to NY is such an easy marketing thing that they will 100% milk it. Now probably to avoid a R Wilson situation I can see the NFL maybe having the Jets play more primetime games early season with flex later on. It's why I think Buffalo hosts them on Saturday in DEC so they can put at night if the Jets are something, if they suck its a 1pm Sunday game. Miami I 100% becomes the division foe that takes the spot NE had for primetime. I could see Bills TNF host and end of year at Miami with the idea maybe flex in for the division crown if it is tight. Bills in 1998 were good as were Jets who went to AFC title while we lost in WC to Miami. Other then that yea 81 was the last time.

Now that free agency is settling a bit and we have an idea of what some foes are shaping into I got to thinking what our likely opponents could be for night matchups (TNF,SNF, & MNF). The NFL has a 5 game max for primetime games + one additional flex game for every NFL teams. This season also the NFL is allowing for MNF games to be flexed into in the back half the season so there is some talk certain teams and matchups might be setup so the NFL can easily swap out a poor matchup for a better one (which as the Broncos proved was a real issue last year, Lets Roll Broncos Country #ThanksRuss lol). The Bills have been a max primetime team for 2 of the last 3 years with 2021 being 4 primetime games plus a late season flex. This years schedule is loadeddddd with primetime opponents as the Bills host playoff teams in Dallas, New York Gman, and Miami plus the Jets now have Rodgers and Broncos have Sean Payton. Their away schedule is even wilder as they are at KC, Cincy, Philly, & LA Chargers plus the normal of division opponents Jets/Phins. The Patriots for some reason were the divisional opponent of choice the past two years for night games, but given how their appeal is falling while the Jets has skyrocketed and Miami is loading up I would expect both of those games to be at 1pm finally. The NFL has flexed the Bills the past five years for either the Saturday game in December (Pats 2019, Broncos 2020, & Phins 2022) or Sunday for SNF/4pm (Steelers 2020 & Jets 2021). The league does try to rotate so prime matchups that are in conference like KC v BUF are shared between CBS for their national window and the night matchups on TNF, SNF, and MNF. The league will also listen to team requests for things like if they opened on the road last year can they be at home for this year or in the Bills case they have been on Thanksgiving a bunch can they take a break from that. So factoring this in I rank matchups at night as followed and please share yours: 1. at KC (MNF as last year was CBS so back to night) 2. DAL at BUF (SNF // Ratings to the max people) 3. Jets (SNF // I lean towards at NYC but either way with the other probably the DEC flex game for the night matchup) 4. at PHI (MNF) 5. MIA at BUF (TNF) I think the CIN game will be the 4 pm national window spot along with the Chargers.

Way to not list punters Good job as always

Thought the same wasn't in division and now out of conference. Deuces Tremaine

Connor McGovern

Correct!

Might be a lifetime contract but its worth it

Gandalf or Sauron because they could single handily stop the entire offense

I think he himself would be thrilled if the Bills drafted a guy 1st round as it could help share the load a bit and keep the tread on his tires a bit lighter.

When statistically the defense is at its worst every time Milano is out (since 2017) you see a guys value. No doubt Edmunds will hurt, but their are suitable replacements. What Milano has provided is far more irreplaceable imo.

I would add in 2014 we had high hopes for the D and then Kiko went out who everyone is high on. They filled his spot with a cheap vet in Brandon Spikes and moved along fine. I have no problem saying Poyer and Edmunds are very good players and losing them is a hit. I also will say though the Bills have good players in Milano, Hyde, Von, T. Johnson, White, Groot, DaQuan Jones, and Oliver (well sometimes) and they will have a full offseason to figure it out and retool the defense. Last year the biggest issue for the Bills defense was the amount of attrition they had across the board at D which just didn't stop. Losing Poyer in the offseason is tough, but losing him midseason where replacements are super thin and gameplan is hard to adjust is much tougher. The Bills defense in 2020 was statistically middle of the road but the offense carried the load and things went pretty well. We just might be more bend not break this year.

lol looks like I got Jesus on something! I try to be detailed in posts even if long.

Oh yea they turned into a team that was pretty fun to watch and advanced stats really liked as a whole. No way they don't land some primetime games this year, but I do understand why heading into last season they did not get much press. The hard part is here now for the Lions as people saw what they did and the belief is they are a good team/playoff team this year. Like the Bills in 2019 you gotta now prove that this isn't a fluke (I don't think it is). Also the division is pretty wide open so if ever there is a year they have a shot this is it for the first time in a while. I will have a division outlook post sooner then later pre draft/fa

I have wondered this myself. It would be a bit of a true advantage as their body clocks and routine would be set.

I have wondered if the NFL puts Buffalo in MIA week 18 as it could have divisional implications, we haven’t played MIA week 18 since 2020, and we haven’t been on the road to end a season since 2017. Correct I mean 425/430.

Not sure and great question. As for the game in DC I am wondering how they place it. Bills were last in DC in 2015 and it was a late season game in DEC. Since then Bills played WSH in Nov (2019) and week 2 (2021). I know the NFL tries to change when teams play each time they visit the opposing conference so fans get a chance to see them at a different time of year. The Bills are almost for sure in London in October, I wonder if WSH game is around then to keep game time at 1pm for players body clocks and its early then in 2016. NFL would never put it then. Wayyy too valuable a game when they can't capture all the eyeballs. My guess is Bills Chiefs are MNF this year in December.

As I said above based off the Bills pressor I think they want some normalcy this year and to be away from that window and back to just a regular TNF game. I could be wrong but that just seems to be more a popular fan thing. Additionally it is the NFL and rather then waste a Bills matchup for a Friday game that will already draw ratings they probably will throw a lesser opponent set out.

I am finally awakening from my winter slumber (aka Bills depression) and moving to 2023. There is still much to happen with free agency and the draft before we get to the schedule release, but we are in the time of the year where leaks will start coming. For those of you who are not aware of what some of the schedule quirks are for 2023 here is a primer along with some thoughts on the Bills and NFL itself: Updates: -Starting in 2023 weeks 14-18 will have flex scheduling for the Monday Night Games. We have seen that some late season games on MNF become dogs and the Broncos implosion weekly on a national basis certainly help contribute to this change lol (just kidding but for real that was bad) -Black Friday will have a game and it will be offered free on Amazon prime -Monday night football will open weeks 1-3 with doubleheaders each week -The hall of fame game is Friday August 4th Browns v Jets to open the NFL preseason -Teams are allowed a maximum of 5 primetime games plus the ability to be flexed in later. Apparently the Saturday night games do not count the same as the Bills had 5 plus Miami on a Saturday last year -NFL Sunday Ticket is moving to Youtube this season and you can purchase it through there -KC will be opening the NFL season on Thursday September 7th -KC is also in Germany this season and the game is supposed to be in November. The Patriots also host a game in London -Bills, Titans, and Jags all will host in London -The AFC has 9 home games this year although the 5 AFC teams above will "lose" a home game to abroad NFL Thoughts: -Peter King touched on this on his FMIA column on the 20th of Feb but the NFL has many partners to share games with for primetime matchups. CBS, FOX, ESPN, NBC, YouTube, & Prime all split the share of the best matchups. If CBS got Bills Chiefs in 22, NBC got Bills Chiefs in 21, and Fox got Bills Chiefs in 20, it is possible ESPN begs for it chance to get the matchup. -Remember a primetime window is the 4pm/4:25pm Sunday slot. It does not count in the teams night game allotment but it does qualify is getting national attention. PHI KC rematching at 4:25 is just as big as Sunday night to the NFL. -The NFL and Chiefs have many options for the opening game and the list is long of quality opponents. The NFL rarely puts one of its truly premier matchups on opening night and last years Bills Rams was actually down compared to the year prior. -Last year the Lions were the only team without a primetime game until they got flexed week 18... I expect that to be quite different -NYC should see a return to the bright lights at night as the G-Man made the playoffs and the Jets showed marked improvement and most likely will land Rodgers or Jimmy G. Last year the Jets had just single night game (TNF vs Jags) and the Giants only had one also (MNF) although they played DAL on Thanksgiving and also played in England. -The NFL's extra game is paying off in spades this year as the Chiefs and Eagles rematch and it continues to produce some high caliber matchups CIN-MIN, BAL-DET, SF-JAX, and LAC-DAL. -Finally while this draft has a very interesting and talented group of passers I would not expect a major primetime billing for them. Two reasons for this, 1. There is not a guarantee they start and the NFL tends to avoid overloading bottom teams with primetime games AND 2. the projected top QB needy teams are IND, CAR, HOU, and LV. Not exactly a media market murders row there. Bills Thoughts: -The Bills draw quite well on primetime and Josh Allen is a superstar that people love. The NFL views them as contenders so I would not expect much of a reduction in primetime matchups -I would expect a scaling back of the Bills playing in non Sunday games. Last year Buffalo played 7 games not on Sunday compared to the Chiefs for example who played just 3 games. With how chaotic last year became and the team probably looking to center their focus on the task at hand a bit more I would not be surprised to see the team itself request less non Sunday games. The Bills played three times on Thursday alone last year (at Rams, at DET, at NE). -Speaking of Thursday now that the Bills are the Thanksgiving champions (DAL 19, NOLA 21, & DET 22) I would not be surprised to see them also request a normal thanksgiving and no black friday game. -On the flipside the Bills have seemingly liked the Saturday game the week before Xmas as they have played in 2019 (atNE), 2020 (atDen), and 2022 (MIA) on that Saturday. My bet is the NFL puts Buffalo in that window again with a division opponent. -The Bills have had at least one game in primetime in division for the last three seasons and I could see the Bills having at least two games again this year. MIA is not a ratings beast, but both games were competitive last year and they have some star power at WR. The Jets if they get Rodgers will hit the 5 game max, but even with Jimmy G I could see the Bills facing them on MNF or TNF. Of any of the three division foes NE may be the one left at the table unless they add a QB like Lamar or some other star branded player. -Finally Buffalo has not played a division opponent week 1 for two years and they typically play a division foe to open the season 50% of the time. For some reason the Jets have been the focal point week 1 most of the time as the Bills last opened against NE in 2013 and MIA in 2010. My guess is the Bills play one of the three to open the year. A popular rumor has been the Bills at the Jets MNF to open the season, but I have wondered if BUF asks for a home game week 1 and they get the Pats finally.

I would say this offseason is his biggest challenge since the year they drafted Josh. They no longer can build freely without consequence the way they did when they got Josh and some of the core pieces they built the original foundation with may have to go (Edmunds/Poyer). Beane needs to basically strengthen the O line, add to the WR corp, either find a way to keep their MLB and SS OR replace one or both then while having cap restraints. If Beane can make the right choices it can possibly open the window wider as the proper draft and FA adds allow subsequent years to see some BPA draft picks. But if you miss your only digging further in the hole.

Soooo your saying the time could be.... right now....

Mr Bean

I legit feel for Tua and Phin fans despite being a rival. The dude has the talent but the injuries are serious and he just seems like one of those guys who they won't stay away from him. I think had Tua been healthy the full season Buffalo would've only won the division by a game over MIA. It makes it hard to buy Miami as a real threat when I feel like he is going to miss 3-5 games.

Maybe that is where Yolo has been this whole time

Damn I nailed Vikings Giants Colts and Jags basically. Bills had Von not gotten injured and Rosseasu has ankle messed would’ve happened.