3 rematches on the Buffalo Bills schedule

The Buffalo Bills’ 2024 schedule has been released and contains a number of contests that feature pre-existing animosity and built-in storylines. We break down some of the biggest “revenge plays” on the team’s 2024 roster.

Kansas City Chiefs – Week 11

The current generation’s unmissable grudge match will have its eighth installment since the start of the 2020 season as the Buffalo Bills will host the Kansas City Chiefs at Highmark Stadium in week eleven.

Related: Ranking the Bills’ 2024 opponents based on Josh Allen’s career passer rating against them

These two teams met twice last season, where the Bills beat the Chiefs 20-17 at Arrowhead, but Kansas City had the last laugh in the playoffs; The Bills suffered another heartbreaking loss at the hands of their new rivals, as Tyler Bass pushed his game-tying field goal… wide right.

This box office clash has centered on the NFL’s two premier quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. What makes this match even more interesting is how similar both teams are built. With their two electrifying quarterbacks, both teams feature a large receiving corps without bona fide stars, a reliance on their tight ends in the passing game, and two aggressive defenses. Where the Chiefs have the biggest advantage over the Bills is in coaching. The Chiefs coaching staff is much more experienced than Buffalo’s. The Bills have a rookie defensive coordinator in Bobby Babich, and Joe Brady, their offensive coordinator, is entering his first full season in the role in Buffalo.

As we get closer and closer to the start of the 2024 season, this current take on the Bills-Chiefs rivalry has the Chiefs in the lead with a 4-3 advantage. The Bills have a chance to even the series in the regular season, but we will most likely see these two face off in the playoffs next season as well.

Houston Texans – Week 5

The Buffalo Bills have not faced the Houston Texans since the 2021 season where the Bills beat them 40-0. Before the offseason started, this was going to be an interesting matchup. The Texans are a team on the rise. They have an amazing duo in second-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and second-year quarterback CJ Stroud. They also have a talented young receiving duo in Tank Dell and Nico Collins. On paper, everything is in place for an explosive shootout in Houston.

But it was about revenge on April 3, 2024. It was about revenge when the Bills traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans.

We don’t need to go into incredible detail about Diggs’ importance to the Bills and his former quarterback. Allen himself has stated this numerous times since Diggs’ arrival and now departure. But during the final two seasons of his tenure in Buffalo, the Bills mob grew increasingly concerned that Diggs was going to leave Western New York, even after Diggs signed a lucrative contract extension during his time in Buffalo.

Related: Instant analysis of every game on the Bills’ 2024 schedule

These sentiments, however, seemed primarily narrative and media-driven, pinning a label on Diggs from his time in Minnesota. But unfortunately, there was smoke with this fire. After a series of dramas on and off the field at the end of the 2022 season and the start of the 2023 season, general manager Brandon Beane traded Diggs after the final straw, a post on social media, perhaps by coincidence. it said Josh Allen wanted him to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

This will be a game full of mixed emotions for Bills Mafia, because even though the way Diggs left hurts, they will always hold on to the good memories of Diggs in Buffalo.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Week 3

In their last two meetings, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Buffalo Bills… twice. Both of these games were ugly, in 2021 the Jags beat the Bills 9-6. Then last season, the Bills lost 25-20 in London. This was a notable game because it was where the Bills lost not only the game, but also star linebacker Matt Milano for the remainder of the season. They also lost defensive tackle DaQuan Jones for most of the season.

What makes these losses even more painful is that the Bills are a better team than the Jaguars. On paper, they have more talent across the board and, statistically, they are the better team. Last season, the Bills were fourth in total yards gained and sixth in points scored, while Jacksonville was 13th in both of those statistical categories. The Bills also allowed fewer points and yards than Jacksonville, and the Bills had a better turnover differential; they finished the season at +2, while Jacksonville finished at -3.

For Buffalo, if they want to be a Super Bowl contender, they need to beat teams like the Jaguars, a team the Bills are better than talent-wise and better than statistically. So we’ll see if the Bills can end this mini-losing streak against the Jags and start making their case as Super Bowl contenders.

Related: Ranking the 5 most exciting Bills games of the 2024 NFL schedule

Honorable Mention: Arizona Cardinals – Week 1

The Bills and Cards don’t have a long history or modern rivalry, it tends to happen with non-conference opponents. But this is the only team on the schedule that Josh Allen has not beaten during his career. The last time these two teams met, the Cardinals had one of the most miraculous finishes in NFL history.

I salute you Murray.

Everyone who watched the game remembers the ending, and everyone who didn’t watch it eventually saw it.

While there isn’t much history between the teams, beating Arizona would be a great cleanser for the Bills and their fans to start the season.