Bills’ schedule appears to be quite a challenge

By Connor Byrne  |   Friday, April 07, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Buffalo Bills
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On Thursday, the NFL released schedules for every one of its teams for the 2006 season. Unfortunately for the Buffalo Bills, the schedule given to them appears incredibly difficult for a talent-challenged team coming off a 6-10 season. For a Bills team that has missed the playoffs in six straight seasons, an unfavorable schedule was among the last things that they needed.

As of right now, the league feels that the Bills are such an unappealing team that they are among four teams not to have a primetime game this coming season, and they don't even have a 4:15 matchup; instead, all of the Bills' games are penciled in for 1:00 kickoffs. In the unlikely event that Buffalo is contending late in the season, they might have a matchup moved to NBC's Sunday night lineup, thanks to the league's new flexible scheduling. However, don't hold your breath for that to happen.

If you're judging by last year's records, the Bills' schedule seems manageable because they only face off with five teams that made the playoffs in 2005. Nonetheless, they still have to face a bevy of up-and-coming teams who either just missed the playoffs in 2005 or are being picked to contend in '06.

Without any further adieu, it's time to take a closer look at a Bills schedule that has already been deemed quite difficult for them to deal with.

To begin the season, the Bills travel to New England to take on the division rival Patriots. At the moment, the Patriots are hard to gauge because they've lost numerous key players such as linebacker Willie McGinest, kicker Adam Vinatieri and receiver David Givens. Still, they have something the Bills don't have: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Ultimately, that will be the difference in the opening week as the Patriots mop the floor with the soon-to-be 0-1 Bills.

For a second straight week, the Bills will be on the road; this time it'll be against the AFC East favored Miami Dolphins. Miami would be coming off a 10-day break since they play their opener on a Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The fact that quarterback Daunte Culpepper's making his home debut, combined with the Dolphins' fans being incredibly fired up to play their chief rival will make all the difference. Miami beats Buffalo, who falls to 0-2.

For the third week of the season, the schedule-makers smiled upon the Bills as they gave them a matchup with the putrid New York Jets as a home-opener in Orchard Park. Even if the Jets have Matt Leinart at quarterback, they won't stand a chance in this game against a better Bills team. Buffalo improves to 1-2 with the victory.

Week Four will be a much bigger challenge for the Bills as they have to deal with one of the NFC's best, the Minnesota Vikings. After a terrific offseason, the Vikes will be ready to go, so expect them to take care of business in Buffalo. The Bills fall to 1-3.

In the fifth week of the season, the Bills are back on the road in what seems like a no-brainer loss. They take on a Chicago Bears team that many are picking to be even better than they were last season. The Bears' defense will terrorize the Bills' offense in a somewhat low-scoring affair, and Buffalo will drop to 1-4.

In a third consecutive NFC North contest, the Bills will travel to Detroit to take on an improved Lions team at Ford Field. Once again, the Bills seem outmanned in this situation; Detroit improved vastly with a new coaching staff and the addition of veteran Jon Kitna at the quarterback position. They'll improve even more by adding a solid defender in the first-round of this month's draft. Expect them to use home-field as an advantage and take care of a Bills team that will be quickly slipping into the annals of the NFL at 1-5.

After a trio of NFC matchups, the Bills head home in week seven for their final matchup of the season with the Patriots. This game will be close since it's in Buffalo, but the more talented and poised team will end up winning out. Of course, I'm talking about the Patriots. Buffalo will be improving at this point in the season, but they'll have nothing to show for it but a 1-6 record.

The Buffalo Bills will come off their week eight bye at home against one of the weakest teams in the league, the Green Bay Packers. At this point in the season, this game will be deemed by many as a contest between two teams that may end up with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, but the Bills are too good to be put in the Packers' company. Buffalo holds advantages on offense, defense and especially the coaching staff. The Bills will win a laugher to improve to 2-6.

Regrettably for the Bills, their high won't last long as they will be forced to take an absolute drubbing the following week, courtesy of the Indianapolis Colts. By the time this game rolls around, everyone will see that the Colts are the AFC's premier team. They'll prove it by pounding a demoralized Bills team in the RCA Dome; Buffalo falls to a dissatisfying 2-7.

In the Bills' next matchup, they take on the Houston Texans, who will have a refurbished offense with rookie running back Reggie Bush and former Bills receiver Eric Moulds. In the end, the Bills will take some revenge on Moulds by shutting him down, but the Texans' other starting receiver, Andre Johnson, will run rampant. The same can be said for Bush as Houston will win this home matchup, dropping the Bills to 2-8.

Subsequent to the aforementioned road losses against Indy and Houston, the Bills will head home to take on a Jacksonville Jaguars team that went 12-4 last season. On paper, the Jaguars are a better team than the Bills, but the late November conditions in Buffalo will play a factor this time around; the gutty Bills will take down an overrated Jacksonville team in an upset to improve to 3-8.

The Bills are home again in their next matchup against yet another warm-weather team, the San Diego Chargers. By then, the Chargers will be regretting their decision to hand the team over to the overestimated Philip Rivers. Because of that, they'll be stuck at mediocre or worse and will have extreme difficulty in the December cold against the Bills. For the second consecutive week, the Bills will pull off an upset victory out at home; the win will improve Buffalo to 4-8.

Flying high after back-to-back home wins, the Bills will take on the struggling Jets in Week 14. At this point, 35-year-old Jets coach Eric Mangini will be wishing he stayed in New England as a defensive coordinator. The improving Bills will progress to 5-8 by blowing out the basement-dwelling Jets for their third straight victory.

In Week 15, the Bills head back home to take on a Dolphins team that should be on their way to clinching the division by the time this game rolls around. However, after winning three straight, the Bills will be soaring and readying themselves to play the spoiler in this situation. In this December 17th matchup in Orchard Park, the two sides could be looking at some rough weather conditions. If the snow and cold come to fruition, all bets are off, and the Bills will pull out a close one, improving to 6-8 in the process.

The Bills will close out their home schedule on Christmas Eve the following week against what should be a struggling Tennessee Titans team. By this point, the Bills will be one of the hottest teams in the league and the Titans will be playing for another high draft choice. The Bills will handle the Titans and give the home crowd a nice Christmas gift by advancing to 7-8; it will be their fifth straight victory.

To finish up the season, the Bills will head to Baltimore to take on a Ravens team that will be looming around the .500 mark. Buffalo's impressive win-streak will come crashing down in the final game of the season, as they will lose a close battle. Still, they'll end up at 7-9, a better mark than they had last year.

If the Bills' season does indeed end up this way, it will be a roller-coaster filled with major lows for the first couple months of the season, then some major highs as the cold weather moves in on the NFL. After a 2-8 start, 7-9 is certainly a respectable record for new Bills head coach Dick Jauron. Should GM Marv Levy make the right moves next offseason, Buffalo could be staring contention in the eyes in '07.

--Connor Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com
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