They say when one door closes, another is opened, and the same could be maintained about the ever-churning NFL calendar. With the end of the 2014 season comes an immediate look into the crystal ball that is the list of each team's 2015 opponents. No dates or times have been announced yet – that comes in the spring – but it's fun to analyze what information we have cemented about the Bills 2015 season.
But before we dive in, let's get the lay of the land. To keep all things fair in love and football, here's the method the NFL uses to determine against whom and where each team will play its 16 games:
-Home and away against its three division opponents (6 games).
-The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games).
-The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games).
-Two intraconference games based on the prior year's standings (2 games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.
Based on that formula, here's what the slate of 2015 Bills opponents looks like:
*Home: *Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants
*Away: *Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins
And here's a list of 5 things we know about those teams and the 2015 schedule as whole:
Eli Manning, Tony Romo and Andrew Luck will be on our turf
With the Indianapolis Colts, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants on the Bills 2015 schedule, a slate of big-name quarterbacks will be en route to Buffalo next season. Where else would we rather host these Pro Bowl QBs than at our house surrounded by 70,000 Bills fans?
Monday night rematch?
The last time the Bills played the Cowboys at home was that unforgettable Monday Night Football event at the Ralph. Though we don't want to reopen old wounds in talking about the final few seconds of the game, we can certainly reflect about what a wildly exciting game it was. With the Cowboys heading back to Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2015, who knows if the scheduling Gods will put the matchup under the primetime lights once again. Monday Night Football back in Buffalo - wouldn't that be great?
London is calling
Curveball: when the Buffalo Bills face the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015, it won't be in Buffalo or Jacksonville. As already announced, the game will be played across the pond at Wembley Stadium in London. Should be a jolly good time.
No heading west
Game photos from the Week 10 matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Bills will fly five hours east to London, but they won't be heading very far in the other direction. They'll only cross the Mississippi River once to get to the Midwestern town of Kansas City, with no games on the schedule any father west. Speaking of that, this will be the 8th year in a row that the Bills and the Chiefs will play during the regular season – quite a streak!
Strength of schedule
Though it's far too early to make estimations about how strong teams will be in the 2015 season, we should point out that only five of the 13 teams the Bills will face next season are headed to the playoffs this year. Their combined record is 100-107, giving them a winning percentage of .480. May the odds stay ever in our favor!
