4 takeaways from the release of the Bills 2024 schedule

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Bills fans can start making plans and predictions now that the 2024 NFL schedule was released Wednesday night.

Here’s our first look at Buffalo’s slate of games, the majority of which are broadcast on WIVB-TV Ch. 4.

Test drives from the start

After what could be an easy home opener against the Arizona Cardinals traveling east for a 1 p.m. kickoff, the Bills hit the road again four days later to visit the Dolphins of Miami, beginning a stretch of five in seven weeks as the visiting team.

These away games include tough matchups in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens, the winningest team in the AFC last season, and a Week 5 visit to take on the star wide receiver Stefon Diggs and the Houston Texans, another playoff team a year old. There is. The following Monday night’s trip to face Aaron Rodgers (we assume) and the New York Jets marks the first time Buffalo has played three straight road games since 2015.

With the busy early-season road schedule, the Bills will only make one trip in November, which also includes their Week 12 bye, a week earlier than last season.

Prime time affairs

Enjoy your fall Sunday afternoons. The Bills are scheduled to play five prime-time games, including four in the first six weeks of the season.

• Thursday September 12 in Miami, 8:15 p.m.
• Monday, September 23 vs. Jacksonville, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, September 29 in Baltimore, 8:20 p.m.
• Monday October 14 at the NY Jets, 8:15 p.m.
• Sunday, December 1 against San Francisco, 8:20 p.m.

Buffalo’s attention has been reduced slightly from last year, when the Bills played six prime-time games, the maximum allowed by the NFL, and their Week 18 game at Miami was transferred to Sunday Night Football.

Hosting the Jaguars on Monday Night Football in late September should provide ideal tailgating conditions, while the Sunday Night Football game against the visiting San Francisco 49ers, which begins in December, could result in a notable weather event .

Super Bowl Stretch

The Sunday Night Football game against the 49ers comes after Buffalo’s bye week and follows a home date with the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Will Taylor Swift show up to Orchard Park again for the rematch of last year’s divisional playoff game that ended the Bills’ season? One of four late afternoon kickoffs this season, and the only one at home, is among nine regular-season CBS shows scheduled to air locally on WIVB.

Vacation

After playing on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve the past two seasons, the Bills have not been scheduled on any of those days in 2024. They also will not be on the roster NFL Christmas, which will take place on a Wednesday this year. year.

The Monday Night Football game against the Jets on October 14 falls on a federal holiday.