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The Buffalo Bills faced a pretty easy schedule in 2019. Overall, the team only played five games against teams that finished the year with a plus-.500 winning percentage, and two of those games were against the New England Patriots. Buffalo’s only victory in those games came against the Tennessee Titans in what was Marcus Mariota’s last start at quarterback before he was replaced by Ryan Tannehill.
In 2020, the Bills are set to face a schedule that appears to be far more difficult than this year’s version. Buffalo will play seven games against teams that finished with nine or more wins, including one against each of the Super Bowl teams. The Bills will host the Kansas City Chiefs and they will travel west to play the San Francisco 49ers next year.
Buffalo also has two divisional games against New England, home dates with the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams, and another road date with the Titans to round out their plus-.500 opponents next year. Buffalo also plays the Pittsburgh Steelers, who finished 8-8 this year with a merry-go-round at quarterback in place of veteran Ben Roethlisberger, and a trio of 7-9 teams (the New York Jets twice, the Denver Broncos, and the Las Vegas Raiders) next year.
Rounding out Buffalo’s schedule are four games against teams that each won only five games. The Bills play the Miami Dolphins twice, host the Los Angeles Chargers, and travel to the Arizona Cardinals. The Dolphins and Chargers both finished 5-11, while the Cardinals finished 5-10-1 last year.
Overall, the combined 2019 won-loss record of Buffalo’s 2020 opponents is 134-121-1, good for a .523 winning percentage. For comparison’s sake, the Bills’ 2019 schedule had a combined record of 122-132-2, or a .477 winning percentage. The Bills played the same number of plus-.500 teams from 2018, though, as seven of the Bills’ 2019 opponents had more wins than losses in 2018.
In short, Buffalo’s schedule may appear to be daunting based on last year’s results, but just like they say in those lawyer commercials, past performance is no guarantee of future results. But, hey, we should want a tougher schedule. It means the Bills are a better team—and finishing second in the AFC East in 2019 grants them a challenge the team should be excited to face.