Buffalo Bills 2011 Schedule: Full Week-by-Week Analysis of Each Opponent
The good news is that the Buffalo Bills 2011 NFL schedule is now announced. The bad news is that the Bills have the second hardest schedule in the NFL for the 2011 season. Since they own the first pick, it is perhaps fitting that the Carolina Panthers have the NFL's hardest schedule.
For what it is worth, the Bills will be traveling for a total of 13,640 miles during the course of their road schedule, which does include one stretch of three straight games on the road.
Also of note, the Bills do not appear on any Monday Night Football or Thursday night Football games. Every Bills game is at 1:00 pm on Sundays (EST) except for three games, and we will highlight each of those.
Continue on with the presentation to see the season schedule unfold, week by week, and we will put the entire schedule on the final slide.
Week 1: Sept. 11 at Kansas City Chiefs, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills open the season by playing on 9/11, on the road at Kansas City. This is the Rian Lindell revenge game, where the Bills lost 13-10 when Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley called the infamous timeout, and then Lindell missed the long kick after play resumed.
The Bills would love to start out the year on the right foot and get some revenge for Lindell. Nothing like facing a playoff team on the road to start off the season, but when you have the second hardest schedule, you will be facing quite a few playoff teams.
Week 2: Sept. 18 Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills open up their home schedule with a game against the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were a team on the rise last year, so this will be a good test for the Bills to see where they are in their development.
No word yet on who the Raiders are going to go with at quarterback, but you know they will have lots of team speed up and down the roster.
Week 3: Sept. 25 New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills will be looking to break their losing streak of 15 straight losses to New England in this contest. The losing streak to one team is the third longest such streak in NFL history.
Unlike the 2010 season, when the Bills opened with three straight games against AFC East opponents, this year the Bills are able to get their feet wet against two other AFC teams before they start playing the AFC East rivals.
The Bills had a close contest at New England, but they need to give the Patriots a better game at home. A win against the Raiders in Week 2 would give the Bills some momentum, and a rowdy home crowd could fuel the Bills to an inspiring game.
Week 4: Oct. 2 Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals, 1:00 p.m.
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Week 4 sees the Bills going back to the scene of the crime from the 2010 season, where Buffalo stormed back to steal a win from Cincinnati after a huge second half comeback.
What will be interesting to see is how many of their three stars from offense are still there. The trio last year was Carson Palmer, Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco. It is conceivable that none of the three will be on the 2011 roster.
For two teams that were coaching against each other at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, the Bills appear to be turning a corner in their rebuilding efforts, while the Bengals appear to be headed to take at least one or two steps backwards.
Week 5: Oct. 9 Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 p.m.
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Starting in Week 5, the Bills begin a stretch of three straight games vs NFC East opponents. There is nothing easy about this stretch and hosting the Eagles at least gives the Bills a chance to steal a win.
Last year they faced a number of playoff teams on the road, and although they played well then, it is still a difficult way to win, as we reflect on the close losses.
The Eagles should have a set offense and team with Michael Vick at quarterback, as Kevin Kolb should be with a new team after the Eagles trade him away.
A win here could bring the Bills to 3-2 coming in to Week 6. Why not?
Week 6: Oct. 16 Buffalo Bills at New York Giants, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills continue to face off against NFC East teams when they travel to New York City to face the Giants.
This is the Bills final game prior to the bye week in Week 7, so it would be great to snag a win and have some positive feelings coming in to the bye week.
The Giants were a rare non-playoff team that actually had a great 10-6 record last year, so this will be a stern test for the Bills squad.
For those older Bills fans, we are always looking to beat the Giants. It would be a small measure of revenge for the loss in Super Bowl XXV.
Week 7: Oct. 23, BYE WEEK
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No opponent - Bye week.
The bye week in the 2010 season was the key week, when the Bills players called a players-only meeting, which helped to turn the team around. Of course they were 0-5 then, and it would be considered a big surprise if they were winless coming in to Week 7.
So, this bye week will hopefully be one for some players to get over some bumps and bruises and for the coaches to start working on some new wrinkles for the offense and defense.
Week 8: Oct. 30 Washington Redskins at Buffalo Bills (In Toronto), 4:05 p.m.
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The Buffalo Bills have their annual game in Toronto in Week 8 against the Washington Redskins. This is the last game against the NFC East for awhile. The Bills are still looking for their first win in Toronto, and since they are going to have the game after the bye week, they have a very good chance to be extremely ready to face the Redskins.
Another Super Bowl revenge game, the Bills will have to wait to see who the Redskins are trotting out for their quarterback, as it seems unlikely it will be Donovan McNabb.
This is one of the three non-1:00 p.m. kickoffs; this game is set to start at 4:05 PM. Since this game is set for Halloween Eve, a few Bills fans may be looking to make the trek and get dressed up in their best Bills fans costumes. Could be a fun event.
Week 9: Nov. 6 New York Jets at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 p.m.
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If it seems like it is getting late in the year and we haven't faced the Jets yet, you are right. The Week 9 contest is the first time the Bills see the Jets, and even then they are still not done with the first half of their schedule against the AFC East.
Between the bye week, the home game in Toronto and the Bills game against the Jets, it will mark the third straight week that the Bills are home (more or less). They should be looking forward to taking on the Jets in this contest. Upsetting Gang Green at home would be a great way to cap off the first half of the schedule.
Week 10: Nov. 13 Buffalo Bills at Dallas Cowboys, 1:00 p.m.
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Is there any other team that Bills fans want to beat more (outside of the AFC East rivals) than the Dallas Cowboys? The Bills owe the Cowboys for a number of stringing defeats, both of the regular season and Super Bowl variety.
This is the first of a key three-game stretch where the Bills begin the second half of their schedule with three straight games on the road. What a way to start out the road trip, by beating the Cowboys at Jerry's crib.
The Cowboys are coming off an embarrassing season, and no longer have ex-Bills head coach Wade Phillips to lead them.
Chan Gailey faces off against his first NFL employer and hopes to exact a little revenge against Jerry Jones, the owner that fired him after a playoff loss.
Week 11: Nov. 20 Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins, 1:00 p.m.
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Wow, here we are coming in to Week 11, and it marks the first time the Bills have seen the Miami Dolphins all year. That is one major strange quirk in the 2011 schedule.
Last year the Bills traveled to Miami and knocked off the Dolphins in a game that helped seal the fate of the Dolphins missing out on the playoffs.
This year the Bills are interested in bigger goals, as they hope to overtake Miami and escape the basement of the AFC East. The Bills will welcome some better weather as they play in South Florida in November. This ends the first half of the AFC East schedule, who they will be seeing again soon enough.
Week 12: Nov. 27 Buffalo Bills at New York Jets, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills finish their set with the New York Jets in this contest, which means the Bills will play the Jets twice within a four week stretch. It is also the start of the second half of their schedule against AFC East teams.
This is a game where the Bills were embarrassed on the road last year, so the Bills will be wanting to show the Jets that they need to give the Bills more respect than they showed last year.
It is also a great test to see where the Bills are versus teams that have been playing in the AFC championship game for the past two years.
This also marks the end of the Bills longest road streak of three games. Bills will be looking forward to coming back home again.
Week 13: Dec. 4 Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills finally come home again and look who they are hosting.
Ah yes, it is the Bud Adams salute game. Bills fans have been waiting for the chance to flip Bud a quick hello. Without Jeff Fisher, or Vince Young, there is a very strong chance that the Bills can give Bud a proper sendoff back to Tennessee, or wherever it is that he lives.
Don't let the sunglasses fool you, he might actually be awake.
Any win over the Music City Miracle team is always a good win.
Week 14: Dec. 11 Buffalo Bills at San Diego Chargers, 4:15 p.m.
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This is another warm weather game for the Bills in the second half of the schedule and another different start time, at 4:15 p.m.
The Bills will unfortunately be catching the Chargers in the second half of the season, which is the half you would normally not want to face them. They typically are needing to mount a huge second half to make up for a cold start.
This will be another good test for the Bills, as it is the first time they are facing back-to-back teams that failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2010.
Week 15: Dec. 18 Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills finish off the home half with the Miami Dolphins here. This is the second time they have played each other in a five week span. It also marks the third straight week that the Bills are facing a team that did not make the playoffs in 2010, which is the only time it happens this season.
What is nice about this schedule break is that the Dolphins need to travel to Buffalo to play in the snow and cold in the middle of December, which you know they will be dreading.
This is one game where the fans should be coming out in huge numbers to cheer on the Bills and the chants of "Squish the Fish" can be heard all over the Ralph.
Week 16: Dec 24 Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills (Saturday) 1:00 p.m.
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The Bills are playing a home game on Christmas Eve, which makes it a special contest already. The Broncos are accustomed to snow, so they should be ready to give the Bills a good battle to see which four win team from last year is the better of the two.
This is a rare Saturday contest, so Bills fans can see the game on Saturday, and then run out after to get their last minute Christmas gifts for the family. Of course, they could go over to the stadium gift shops and take care of everyone there! Bring you big red Santa Claus bag to the game!
Week 17: Jan. 1, 2012 Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m.
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Bills fans can watch the Rose Bowl parade in the morning, and then sit back and root on the Bills against Tom Brady and the Patriots. There is a reasonable chance that the Patriots will have clinched home-field advantage for the Patriots in the playoffs by now, so this is a game that Tom Brady may not be participating in all four quarters.
Either way, you know that this is one team the Bills want to beat. If the Bills did not win the home game against the Patriots earlier, to a man, they will all want the streak to end.
Should prove to be an interesting way to end the season.
The next slide will have the entire schedule on one slide. Hope you enjoyed the presentation.
2011 Buffalo Bills NFL Schedule
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Bills 2011 Schedule - (all games EST)
Week 1 at Kansas City 9/11 at 1:00
Week 2 Oakland at Buffalo 9/18 1:00
Week 3 New England at Buffalo 9/25 1:00
Week 4 Buffalo at Cincinnati 10/2 1:00
Week 5 Philadelphia at Buffalo 10/9 1:00
Week 6 Buffalo at New York Giants 10/16 1:00
Week 7 BYE WEEK 10/23
Week 8 Washington at Buffalo (in Toronto) 10/30 4:05
Week 9 New York Jets at Buffalo 11/6 1:00
Week 10 Buffalo at Dallas 11/13 1:00
Week 11 Buffalo at Miami 11/20 1:00
Week 12: Buffalo at New York Jets 11/27 1:00
Week 13: Tennessee at Buffalo 12/4 1:00
Week 14: Buffalo at San Diego 12/11 4:15
Week 15: Miami at Buffalo 12/18 1:00
Week 16: Denver at Buffalo 12/24 Saturday game 1:00
Week 17: Buffalo at New England 1/1/12 1:00
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