5 Things We Learned About the Buffalo Bills' 2012 NFL Schedule

The Bills have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL based purely on strength of schedule, but the construct of their season makes it a bit more difficult to project exactly how they'll finish.

Like any team, the Bills have their "easy" stretches and their "difficult" stretches, and though predicting which is which at this point is tomfoolery, it's a good exercise to get a barometer for how their season could potentially play out.

Here are my five big-picture assessments from the schedule release. 

1. Pack Your Bags

The Bills start the season with four of their first six games on the road. 

In fact, their very first game is a road contest against the Jets. They host the Chiefs and then travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns before hosting the Patriots leading into a two-game road trip.

With every cloud comes a silver lining, and the Bills have back-to-back games on the west coast as they take on the 49ers in Week 5 and the Cardinals in Week 6. They could elect to stay out there for the week to avoid wracking their bodies with jet lag.

2. Mario Williams Return Match in Houston

The Bills signed away what had been the key to the Texans defense since 2006. 

The playmaking pass-rusher could use the return game as fuel and motivation to have a big-time performance and prove his worth to both his old team and his new team.

3. Feet to the Fire Out of the Bye

Three of the Bills four games after the bye are on the road, and their home game is on NFL Network's Thursday Night Football, leaving the Bills with a short turnaround.

The Patriots always play better when they have extra time to prepare, and they will for their Week 10 game against the Bills at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots' bye week comes after a grueling trip that has them traveling halfway across the globe in a three-week span.

That being said, the Bills have a tough challenge to travel to New England after a tough game against the Texans.

4. A Long December

By far the easiest stretch of the season for the Bills comes in the month of December. The Bills will play five games in that calendar month, all against teams that missed the playoffs in 2011. Four of the games will be at home.

If the Bills run into some early struggles, this is a nice trump card to have in the back pocket.

5. One Last Swing

The final two games of the season are against divisional opponents, with a trip to SunLife Stadium to face the Dolphins followed by a home game against the Jets.

There are no guarantees on where these teams will be by the end of the season, but with these two games at the back end of the season, the Bills aren't out of it until they're out of it.

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