During July, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will be analyzing the schedules of every team in the NFL and ranking each game in order of difficulty (with one being the most difficult). This series will be split up into the eight most difficult games (ranked 1-8) and the eight easiest games (ranked 9-16) for each team. In this article, the Buffalo Bills most difficult games in 2016 are the focus.
Buffalo Bills Most Difficult Games in 2016
1. Week 9 at Seattle Seahawks
The Bills lone appearance on Monday Night Football this year takes place in Week 9 when they travel to Seattle. It will mark just the 13th all-time meeting between the two teams. The last came on December 16, 2012, with Seattle trouncing Buffalo 50-17. That game was one of six the Bills played in Toronto from 2008-13 before the hugely unpopular annual series north of the border was discontinued.
CenturyLink Field is arguably the toughest place in the entire league to play for any visiting team. The combination of the crowd noise and the fact that Seattle has become a perennial Super Bowl contender underscores that fact. It’s for that reason this contest ranks number one in degree of difficulty for the Bills.
Quarterback Russell Wilson will be looking to lead Seattle to its third Super Bowl appearance in four years. Richard Sherman and the “Legion of Boom” secondary will be a huge challenge for the Bills receiving corps. These and other factors make this perhaps the biggest challenge on Buffalo’s schedule this season.
2. Week 8 vs New England Patriots
It may be counterintuitive to put the Bills clash with the Patriots at Ralph Wilson Stadium ahead of their game in Foxborough. But here’s why it makes sense. It will be the only game between the two featuring Tom Brady at quarterback. Brady will miss the Bills-Patriots game in week four since he will still be serving his Deflate-gate suspension.
Brady played like a man possessed despite the cloud of this scandal in 2015. His 4,770 passing yards during the regular season was third-best in the league. And he nearly led the Pats to its second consecutive Super Bowl and seventh of his career. He’ll be super motivated to maintain that momentum once he returns from suspension.
His offensive line will be bookended by two talented tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett. Bennett came to the Pats via a trade with the Chicago Bears. This team is also quite fearsome on the other side of the ball with players such as defensive end Rob Ninkovich, linebackers Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower, and cornerbacks Patrick Chung and Malcolm Butler all prolific players.
3. Week 3 vs Arizona Cardinals
The Bills week three matchup against the Cardinals will mark the first Sunday game of the regular season at the Ralph. Buffalo’s home opener takes place the previous week will be a nationally televised Thursday night showdown with the Jets. That game, on paper, isn’t as tough as the challenge Arizona will bring to Orchard Park.
The Cards return most of the key pieces of a team that came within a game of a Super Bowl berth last year. Quarterback Carson Palmer will be out to prove he still has it at 36 years of age. Larry Fitzgerald will be hoping to do the same as the dynamic wide receiver enters his 13th season in the league, all in Arizona. Chandler Jones arrives from New England, adding firepower to a defense that finished fifth in yards allowed in 2015.
It’s been 12 years since Arizona has played a road game in Buffalo. The home team prevailed 38-14 back then. It’s expected to be much different this time around, with a potential Bills win being perceived as an upset by most.
4. Week 4 at New England Patriots
If Tom Brady were playing in this game it would likely be top of this list. But he isn’t. The two-time NFL MVP will be serving the final game of his Deflate-gate ban when the Bills visit Gillette Stadium. It’s for this reason that this game gets knocked down a few rungs on the difficulty ladder.
It’s a good thing because Foxborough has been a veritable house of horrors for the Bills during the Brady era. The team is 1-13 all-time at Gillette in games Brady has appeared in. The only win in the history of the facility that opened in 2002 was a 17-9 triumph in a meaningless Week 17 game back in 2014. Brady only played in the first half of that game.
In his place will be Jimmy Garoppolo. The third year player out of Eastern Illinois has appeared in just 11 games since the Patriots drafted him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He will likely be making just his fourth start when Buffalo come to town. With that in mind, this game will be as good an opportunity as any for the Bills to get a rare road win in this series.
5. Week 13 at Oakland Raiders
The Bills make three West Coast road trips this season including week 13 in Oakland. The Raiders and Bills are similar in that both are looking to end long playoff droughts in 2016. The two teams have gone a combined 29 years without making the postseason.
Heading into 2016, it’s the Raiders who most observers are deeming most likely to exorcise their playoff demons. General manager Reggie McKenzie is widely regarded to have aced free agency with some solid acquisitions. This is particularly true on the defensive side of the football with cornerback Sean Smith and linebacker Bruce Irvin coming from the Chiefs and Seahawks respectively.
Oakland eliminated Buffalo from playoff contention in 2014 with a 26-24 week 16 win. With both teams expecting to be in the mix this year, postseason implications will certainly abound in this late season matchup.
6. Week 14 vs Pittsburgh Steelers
This series has been fairly one-sided in Pittsburgh‘s favor recently. The Steelers have won all five games between the two franchises since 2001. This includes three wins in Ralph Wilson Stadium.
When the Black and Gold visit Orchard Park on December 11th, it will be the end of a five-game gauntlet for the Bills. In that span they will have faced the Seahawks, Bengals and Raiders on the road while also facing an improved Jaguars team and an offensively loaded Steelers team at home.
The last two seasons has seen Pittsburgh finish strong. They’ve went a combined 9-1 once the month of December has come along in 2014 and 2015 combined. Their talented trio on offense of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown are undoubtedly going to be a handful.
7. Week 1 at Baltimore Ravens
It’s going to be a homecoming of sorts on opening day for Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. The sixth year pro spent the first four seasons in the league with the Ravens as Joe Flacco‘s backup. His fairly impressive inaugural campaign as Buffalo’s starter highlights that the multi-year understudy role for young quarterbacks still has relevance.
2015 was a lost season of sorts for the Ravens. The club was ravaged by injuries to key players. Perhaps the biggest one came in their week 11 game with the Rams. Even though Baltimore won the game 16-13, they lost Flacco for the season after he tore his ACL on the final drive of the game.
Head coach John Harbaugh and company will be coming into the 2016 season in general and this game in particular looking to get back on track. A motivated and healthy Ravens team in front of their home fans in week 1 is going to be a tough one to beat. Needless to say, the Bills have their work cut out for them right off the bat.
8. Week 11 at Cincinnati Bengals
The Bills have won ten of the last 13 meetings with the Bengals. However, the last three games have resulted in Cincinnati wins. It coincides with the recent regular season success the Bengals have enjoyed under head coach Marvin Lewis and quarterback Andy Dalton.
But after five consecutive seasons of postseason football in Cincinnati, are there indications things could be turning south? The Bengals lost wide receivers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu as well as as safety Reggie Nelson to free agency. It might end up being crucial for their playoff chances to defend home turf in this game.
As mentioned earlier, this is part of a significantly difficult stretch of the Bills schedule. That said, they do come into this game after their bye week. Cincinnati, on the other hand, will only have five days of rest after playing the Giants on Monday Night Football the previous week.
Be sure and check out the eight easiest games on the Buffalo Bills schedule in 2016.
