1 – Monday night leadoff
The Bills are expected to have a much more competitive division this season and they'll find out just how competitive right away in Week 1. Sean McDermott's team travels to MetLife Stadium to square off against the Jets and their new quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the leadoff matchup on Monday Night Football in 2023.
Buffalo and New York split their season series last year, with each club winning at home.
This will be the third meeting between Josh Allen and Rodgers. Allen is 1-1 in head-to-head matchups with Rodgers. He was shutout in his rookie season in Green Bay (22-0) but beat Rodgers in his last season with the Packers 27-17 last October.
The magnitude of the pregame ceremonies are expected to be noteworthy as it will also be the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
2 – Franchise record in prime timers
The Bills are set to play in a franchise record six primetime games this season, surpassing the previous team-high set in 2022 of five such games. As mentioned above it begins right in Week 1 with a road date at the Jets on Monday Night Football. Five weeks later they host the other team that plays in New Jersey as Giants GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll make their first return visit to Buffalo on Oct. 15 for a Sunday night tilt on NBC.
The Bills then have three consecutive primetime games stretching from Week 8 to 10 beginning with a Thursday night matchup with Tampa Bay at Highmark Stadium on Oct. 26. That's followed by a highly anticipated rematch with the Bengals in Cincinnati on Sunday Night Football (Nov. 5)
The primetime slate continues the following week with a home date against Denver and new head coach Sean Payton on Monday Night Football on Nov. 13. On Saturday, Dec. 23, the Bills travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers for an 8 p.m. which will be exclusively streamed on Peacock. It will be the first-ever NFL game broadcast exclusively on Peacock.
Buffalo was 5-0 in primetime games last season.
3 – Four straight at 4:25 pm
The Bills will not only have a big primetime presence again this fall, but they'll also be a regular fixture in the highly-coveted 4:25 pm kickoff window for games that are usually broadcast to most of the country on Sundays.
Buffalo is scheduled for four consecutive 4:25 pm kickoffs between Weeks 11 and 15 with a bye sandwiched in the middle (see No. 5 below). It is a challenging four-game stretch in which they host the Jets on Nov. 19 followed by a road date at Philadelphia on Nov. 26.
Following their bye, they then travel to Kansas City for a 4:25 kickoff on Dec. 10 and close their late afternoon window slate with Dallas at home on Dec. 17.
The four 4:25 pm kickoffs mark the first time Buffalo has had four or more four o'clock hour kickoffs in the same regular season since 2009 when the Bills had five with all of them coming in a six-week span that season.
The Bills won their lone 4:25 pm start last season in Kansas City.
4 – Back-to-back versus conference champs
Everyone knew that both the defending Super Bowl as well as the NFC Champions were on Buffalo's schedule this season. But expecting to see the Bills playing them in back-to-back games was probably not a popular thought, especially with both games on the road.
Buffalo is at Philadelphia in Week 12, followed by a bye week, and then at Kansas City in Week 14.
The good news is Buffalo has won each of their last three regular season meeting with the Chiefs in Arrowhead including last season's thrilling 24-20 win with Dawson Knox catching what would be the game-winning touchdown and Taron Johnson sealing the victory with a late interception.
Buffalo hasn't played in Philadelphia since the 2015 season, a game in which the Eagles prevailed 23-20. So, it will mark the first homecoming as an NFL head coach for Sean McDermott, who spent most of his grade school years in Lansdale, PA.
5 – Late bye
Buffalo's bye week comes very late this season. Their Week 13 bye comes right in between the aforementioned Philadelphia and Kansas City road dates on Dec. 3rd.
It matches the latest bye week the Bills have ever had. The Bills last had a bye in Week 13 during the 1999 season.
6 – Long road trips late
Outside of traveling to London, Buffalo's road schedule is pretty tame in the first half of the season. In fact, the team won't travel out of the Eastern time zone until December.
But the Bills' three-longest road trips will take place on their last three away games. Buffalo's final three regular season road dates are at Kansas City in Week 14 (1,828 air miles round trip), at Los Angeles in Week 16 (4,386 air miles) and at Miami in Week 18 (2,332 air miles).
The Bills will log the 15th highest total of air miles in the league this season with a figure of just over 19,000 miles (19,028) covering 18 time zones.
7 – Extra rest for Bengals and Chiefs matchups
As difficult as some stretches of Buffalo's 2023 schedule might be, the NFL schedule makers did do the Bills a favor when it comes to preparing for two of their most important AFC matchups outside of their division.
The league gave Buffalo longer rest and preparation time leading up to their Week 9 game at Cincinnati and their Week 14 game at Kansas City.
The Bills will have nine days to prep for their road date with the Bengals since they'll be playing on Thursday night the week before against Tampa Bay at home.
Prior to their road game with the Chiefs, Buffalo will have their bye week, giving them two weeks to heal up and get ready for the defending Super Bowl champs.
8 – London rematch
Buffalo's first trip to London in eight years will have some familiarity to it. The last time they played there, their game was also in October and their opponent was the Jacksonville Jaguars as it is again this time around.
Back in the 2015 matchup, the Bills put together a rousing comeback effort after a turnover-filled second quarter led to three Jaguars touchdowns and spotted Jacksonville a 27-3 lead. Buffalo would score 28 unanswered points taking the lead on a 44-yard interception return by Corey Graham to go up 31-28 with five minutes left in regulation.
But a poor pass interference call on a 3rd-and-15 gave the Jaguars a fresh set of downs in Buffalo territory, and they would go on to score what proved to be a game-winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play.
The only thing different about this matchup, besides the players and coaches of course, is the venue. Instead of Wembley Stadium, the game will be played in Tottenham Hotspur stadium in North London.
9 – New Year's Eve with New England
For the first time in three seasons, Buffalo doesn't have a game on Thanksgiving Day, and they're also not part of the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day schedule as they were last season. But they will be playing on New Year's Eve.
In Week 17 they will host the Patriots, one of two division matchups left on the schedule to end the season.
Buffalo has played New England in Week 16 or later in five of the last six seasons. The Bills have won each of their last three games against the Patriots by an average of just over 12 and a half points (12.6).
10 – One road TBD
Last season, the Bills had a pair of home games whose dates or times were 'To Be Determined.' In 2023, Buffalo has one road games with either an undetermined date and time.
In Week 18, the Bills play the Dolphins in Miami, but the game could be played on Saturday Jan. 6th or Sunday Jan. 7th with a time and TV network to be determined as well.
