Following a demoralizing 31-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8, the Buffalo Bills (5-2) will look to get back on track against another NFC East foe when the Washington Redskins (1-7) come to New Era Field for a 1 p.m. contest Sunday afternoon.
For the second straight week, a Bills game will be broadcast on FOX, but unlike last week, the viewing audience for the Week 9 game between Buffalo and Washington is limited to both team’s primary markets.
FOX’s No. 5 broadcasting team of Chris Myers (play-by-play), Daryl Johnston (analyst), and Laura Okmin (sideline reporter) will handle the Bills/Redskins game.
The areas that can see the game are highlighted in yellow (map courtesy of 506sports):
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19334476/09_FOX.png)
Among FOX’s early games, the majority of the national audience will get to see the Minnesota Vikings play at the Kansas City Chiefs (blue), followed by the Chicago Bears at the Eagles (red) in a rematch of last year’s Wild Card game, and the Bills/Redskins. The late FOX games feature the Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders (green), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Seattle Seahawks (orange).
This will be the 15th meeting all-time between the Bills and the Redskins.
Buffalo holds an 8-6 lead in the series and has won six of the last seven matchups.
The last time these two teams met, Buffalo traveled to our nation’s capital and dropped a 35-25 decision on Dec. 20, 2015. Washington raced out to a 21-0 halftime lead and prevailed thanks to Kirk Cousins, who completed 22 of 28 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns. Buffalo fell despite out-gaining Washington 452-431, including 240-123 on the ground. Tyrod Taylor completed 16 of 27 passes for 235 yards with two TDs to Sammy Watkins, who hauled in five passes for 111 yards.
The last time Washington came to Western New York was the 2003 season, when the Bills bested the Redskins 24-7 on Oct. 19, 2003. According to Sal Capaccio, with 16 years between visits to New Era Field, this is the longest stretch any NFL team has gone between trips to Orchard Park. Buffalo’s last “home” game against Washington was Oct. 30, 2011 in Toronto, when the Bills posted a 23-0 shutout win.