In 2017, Sean McDermott's first season as head coach and the year before Josh Allen was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills played 14 of their 16 games at 1 p.m., even that one in Jacksonville. His wild-card playoff game early in the season was also an early start.
A 4:05 game in Los Angeles against the Chargers and an 8:25 start in the Meadowlands against the jets were the only outliers, and that was only because each team had to be in at least one primetime game.
Fast forward to 2023 when the three-time defending afc east champion Bills will play just five of their first 16 games in the 1 p.m. window (the season finale in Miami has still to be determined). And three of those will come in the first four weeks, including the second week's home opener against the Raiders.
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all in the bills play six primetime games – the same as the Super Bowl champion Chiefs – and four others in the 4:25 time slot, which typically sports a national audience. Also, he has a 9:30 am meeting with Jaguar in London, which is a standalone time slot.
Between their Week 7 game at New England, and the Week 17 game at home against the Patriots, which both start at 1 p.m., the Bills play eight straight that will start at 4:25 p.m. or after 8 p.m.
Buffalo Bills 2023 full schedule: date, time, including six primetime sports
Yes, we live in a different world and Western New York football weekends are very different now that the Bills have become one of the NFL's primetime or big window teams.
Last year there were eight such games: six in primetime, one in the 4:25 national window, and Thanksgiving in the National Game Detroit. Of course the night one game in Cincinnati was canceled after just eight minutes. Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field.
Here are my other observations on the schedule:
The NFL Wastes No Time In Demonizing Aaron Rodgers
new jets quarterback The big stage is in for a treat as expected as New York hosts the Bills in the season-opening Monday Night Football game on Sept. 11 at MetLife Stadium.
It's a juicy matchup between the league's two leading quarterbacks, each with victories against the other. rogers and His The Packers tapped Allen in his 2018 rookie season and last year bill lost Green Bay at Highmark Stadium.
Allen has come to know Rodgers partly because they encountered each other on the golf course a few years ago. in the match, Rodgers and tom brady beat Allen and Patrick Mahomes.
“I love Aaron. I saw him in the (Kentucky) Derby. Got to talk with him for a while, like he's one of my favorite quarterbacks ever,” Allen said on Kyle Brandt's podcast on Wednesday. . I think he's the most talented thrower ever, his body mechanics, like, I try to emulate what he does. I've been such a big fan of his for so long and the kind of relationship is between us, it's still surreal to me that he likes me like this.
To which Bills fans will surely say, “Yeah, that's fine, but make sure you beat him. Twice actually.”
On paper, the schedule is very tight
The Bills are playing based on their opponents' 2022 records seventh most difficult program In the league though as we all know, this means absolutely nothing as every team changes from season to season.
For example, the Jets finished 7-10 last season, but if you believe some analysts, they would be a better team with Rodgers, maybe even division winners.
There isn't really a single game on the schedule where you would expect the Bills to be prohibitive favorites, something that has happened multiple times over the past three years. Counting Miami twice, 10 of the Bills' 17 games will come against teams that made the playoffs in 2022.
it contains two super bowl 57 participants And the Bills will play them back-to-back, although they have a bye week in between. In Week 12 they travel to Philadelphia for a November 26 showdown with the NFC Champs, then return to action in Week 14, for their latest trip to Kansas City on December 10. They both start at 4:25.
bill will be home for the holidays
The holiday season will be football-free for the Bills as they are not playing on Thanksgiving Day, something they have done in three of the last four years.
And on Christmas weekend, while most teams are playing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the Bills will play against the Chargers on Saturday, December 23 in Los Angeles. Even New Year's Eve is favorable as the Bills will be up against the Patriots.
That game against the Chargers will be shown exclusively on peacock Network, a first for NBC's streaming option. That means, like Amazon Prime games — of which the Bills have one, Week 8 against the Buccaneers — you'll need a Peacock subscription to watch.
Prime time for Brian Dabold's return
One of the primetime games at Highmark Stadium is the Week 6 homecoming for ex-Bills offensive coordinator Brian Dabol as he brings his Giants to town to play Sunday Night Football.
Dabol, who was raised by his grandparents in the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca, and played football at the University of Rochester, led the Giants to the postseason in his first year as head coach. Also returning will be general manager Joe Schoen, who was Brandon Beane's right-hand man for five years in Buffalo.
Two good late-season road trips for the fans
last year, bill The Rams played in Los Angeles in Week 1And then in week 3 miamiAnd both games featured awfully hot, humid September temperatures.
This year, the Bills are making return visits to both venues, only they'll be in Los Angeles the week of Christmas to play the Chargers, and then they'll close the season on January 7 in South Florida.
You would expect these to be the two most popular road games for a fan base that is always well traveled.
Buffalo Bills 2023 Schedule:
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week 1: Monday, Sept. 11 at New York Jets, 8:15 PM ESPN/ABC
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Week 2: Sunday, September 17 vs. Las Vegas Raiders, 1 PM, CBS
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Week 3: Sunday, September 24 at Washington Commanders, 1PM, CBS
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Week 4: Sunday, October 1 vs. Miami Dolphins, 1 PM, CBS
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Week 5: Sunday, October 8, vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 9:30 AM, NFL Network
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Week 6: Sunday, October 15 vs. New York Giants, 8:20 PM, NBC
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Week 7: Sunday, October 22 at New England Patriots, 1 PM, CBS
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Week 8: Thursday, October 26 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 8:15 PM Prime Video
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Week 9: Sunday, November 5 at Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 PM NBC
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Week 10: Monday, November 13, vs. Denver Broncos, 8:15 PM, ESPN
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Week 11: Sunday, November 19 vs. New York Jets, 4:25 PM CBS
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Week 12: Sunday, November 26 at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 PM CBS
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Week 13: bye week
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Week 14: Sunday, December 10 at Kansas City Chiefs, 4:25 PM CBS
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Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 17 vs. dallas Cowboys, 4:25 PM, Fox
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Week 16: Saturday, December 23 at Los Angeles Chargers, 8 PM, Peacock
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Week 17: Sunday, December 31 vs. New England Patriots, 1 PM, CBS
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Week 18: Sunday, January 7 at Miami Dolphins, TBD
Sal Maiorana can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Bill Blast, the newsletter of the year, which will come out every Friday during the off-season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast,