The Buffalo Bills will be featured prominently on the national stage in the 2021 NFL season. Buffalo will have a multitude of nationally televised games on strange days and start times, rather than the traditional 1:00 pm Eastern time slot on Sunday.
The highlight of the schedule is a Thanksgiving night showcase against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints, sans Drew Brees, aren’t as big of a draw as the Bills, who drew a humongous rating on Thanksgiving in 2019.
Buffalo will face the Kansas City Chiefs on a Sunday night, Tennessee Titans on Monday night, and New England Patriots on a Monday night in addition to a nationally televised game against the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 4:25 time slot. Buffalo is getting respect.
Traditionalists should be happy, as well, with eleven 1:00 PM start times.
The full schedule is listed below and I’ve laid out my opinions and observations on the schedule in a previous article. We reported the entire Bills schedule including the preseason hours ago, so all that was left was to fill in a few time slots.
Week 1 - Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Week 2 - Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins, 1:00 PM
Week 3 - Washington Football Team at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Week 4 - Houston Texans at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Week 5 - Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday Night Football
Week 6 - Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans, Monday Night Football
Week 7 - BYE
Week 8 - Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Week 9 - Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1:00 PM
Week 10 - Buffalo Bills at New York Jets, 1:00 PM
Week 11 - Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Week 12 - Buffalo Bills at New Orleans Saints, Thursday Night Football
Week 13 - New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football
Week 14 - Buffalo Bills at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4:25 PM
Week 15 - Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills, TBD
Week 16 - Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots, 1:00 PM
Week 17 - Atlanta Falcons at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Week 18 - New York Jets at Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM
Buffalo Bills’ 2021 Schedule
| Week | Date | Time | Opponent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Date | Time | Opponent | Notes |
| Pre-1 | 8/8 | TBD | @ Detroit Lions | First preseason game since 2019 due to COVID concerns |
| Pre-2 | 8/21 | TBD | @ Chicago Bears | Will the second preseaon game become the "dress rehearsal"? |
| Pre-3 | 8/29 | TBD | GREEN BAY PACKERS | First year with only three preseason games |
| 1 | Sep 12 | 1:00 PM | PITTSBURGH STEELERS | Bills beat Pittsburgh on Sunday night last December |
| 2 | Sep 19 | 1:00 PM | @ Miami Dolphins | Have the Dolphins taken the next step? |
| 3 | Sep 26 | 1:00 PM | WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ron Rivera faces several former colleagues |
| 4 | Oct 3 | 1:00 PM | HOUSTON TEXANS | David Culley returns to Buffalo, but who is his QB? |
| 5 | Oct 10 | 8:15 PM | @ Kansas City Chiefs | Buffalo lost to the Chiefs twice in the 2020 NFL season |
| 6 | Oct 18* | 8:15 PM | @ Tennessee Titans | The Bills were blown out by the Titans in a 2020 prime-time game |
| 7 | Oct 24 | BYE | BYE | BYE |
| 8 | Oct 31 | 1:00 PM | MIAMI DOLPHINS | Halloween costume party is only home game in six weeks |
| 9 | Nov 7 | 1:00 PM | @ Jacksonville Jaguars | Welcome to the NFL, Trevor. |
| 10 | Nov 14 | 1:00 PM | @ New York Jets | The new-look Jets feature a lot of turnover |
| 11 | Nov 21 | 1:00 PM | INDIANAPOLIS COLTS | Return of Frank Reich, coach of the Colts |
| 12 | Nov 25* | 8:15 PM | @ New Orleans Saints | Bills has highest-rated Thanksgiving game in 27 years during 2019 defeat of Cowboys |
| 13 | Dec 6* | 8:15 PM | NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS | Hosting the Patriots on Monday Night Football instead of playing in Foxborough |
| 14 | Dec 12 | 4:25 PM | @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Tom Brady, the boogeyman, via NYUP |
| 15 | Dec 18-19* | TBD | CAROLINA PANTHERS | Saturday flex options |
| 16 | Dec 26 | 1:00 PM | @ New England Patriots | Five years in a row for a Christmas trip to Massachusetts |
| 17 | Jan 2 | 1:00 PM | ATLANTA FALCONS | Gonna be cold for the Falcons |
| 18 | Jan 9 | 1:00 PM | NEW YORK JETS | Welcome to Buffalo in January, Zach. Final week game could be flexed to Saturday. |
| WC | TBD | TBD | The Bills beat the Colts in the Wild Card round in 2020 | |
| Div | TBD | TBD | Buffalo beat the Ravens in the Divisional Round in 2020 | |
| AFC | TBD | TBD | The Chiefs toppled the Bills in the 2020 AFC Championship Game | |
| SB | Feb 13 | 6:30 PM | TBD | Latest calendar date in Super Bowl history |