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The day has arrived, Bills fans! Today, the NFL revealed the 2007 regular season schedule, and it is absolutely chock-full of interesting matchups for the Bills. I have provided the full schedule in the left sidebar (read: little shout-out to Arrowhead Pride, from whom I borrowed the code). Let's take a closer look at some of the matchups and features of our brand-new schedule:
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL?!
MNF was a term that had fallen out of Bills fans' vocabulary in recent years. The Bills last hosted a MNF game in 1994. 13 years later, our thirst for a MNF game has been filled: T.O. and the Cowboys are coming to town on Monday, 10/8/07.
Only a Monday Night tilt involving Terrell Owens could trump the game that every Bills fan knew was coming...
THE RETURN OF WILLIS
The much-anticipated Return of Willis McGahee will occur on Sunday, October 21. What more needs to be said? After spurning Buffalo and forcing a trade out of town, McGahee will now have to face ravenous Bills fans in mid-season. What's more: October 21 is McGahee's birthday.
Let that one soak in for a moment. McGahee will be spending his 27th birthday in Orchard Park. After essentially calling the city of Buffalo boring, McGahee is now denied the opportunity to party hearty on his birthday in Baltimore. Karma is a... well, you know. I laughed about this for a while.
(On a side note, October 21 is also my birthday. My 22nd birthday, to be exact. Soon to be renamed "The Best Day of My Life". What better birthday present can there be than watching McGahee run for 14 yards on 20 carries in a 37-0 Ravens loss at the Ralph?)
OPENING STRETCH
The first seven games of our season are absolutely brutal (not that the entire season isn't - Buffalo is tied with Oakland for the distinct honor of "toughest schedule in the league"). Just five of Buffalo's opponents all season missed the playoffs in '06. Through the first seven weeks, we face one non-playoff foe - and it's a road trip to Pittsburgh. [EDIT]: Thanks to TSG from Mile High Report for pointing out that Denver, too, did not make the playoffs last season. Still... they're not slouches out west in Colorado. If the Bills are to be a successful team in 2007, a lot will depend on getting through the brutal beginning of this schedule unscathed.
ENIGMATIC DUDES
If there's one upside to our schedule, it's that week in and week out, the Bills will be facing some of the highest-profile players in the league. We get Owens in the MNF game, McGahee, and Chad Johnson - all within a four-game stretch. Perhaps this will help the Bills get a bit more publicity on the national stage.
For more on the players we get to boo, see the poll in the right sidebar.
NFC EAST
Other than the Week 5 Cowboys tilt, the Bills face their NFC East foes in a late-season stretch to end the season. We face Washington, New York and Philadelphia all within the final 5 weeks of the season. Last year, that division produced three playoff teams (PHI, DAL, NYG), so we don't exactly get a break after our brutal early-season schedule.
If you have any thoughts/comments on the schedule, please post them in the comments below. The season is now that much closer to starting!