Following their Week 16 win over Dallas, the 7-8 Buffalo Bills are three games behind second-place New York and two games ahead of fourth-place Miami, thereby locking them into a third-place finish in the AFC East in 2015. With the divisional pecking orders set in stone in the AFC South and the AFC West, as well, we now know all 16 of the Bills' opponents for the 2016 season.
Just two games in each season are determined by divisional standing. Of the 16 games on a schedule, six belong to division opponents, four belong to an entire division in the same conference (that's the AFC North for the Bills next year), and four belong to an entire division in the opposite conference (that's the NFC West). The last two games go to the two teams in the same conference that finished in the same divisional slot.
For the Bills, then, they'll play the third-place team in the AFC South at home next year, the Jacksonville Jaguars. They'll also travel to play the third-place AFC West team, the Oakland Raiders.
Here's the full list of 2016 opponents for the Bills, with each team's record current as of the time this post was published.
Home games
- New England Patriots (12-3)
- New York Jets (10-5)
- Miami Dolphins (5-10)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6)
- Cleveland Browns (3-12)
- Arizona Cardinals (13-2)
- San Francisco 49ers (4-11)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10)
Road games
- New England Patriots (12-3)
- New York Jets (10-5)
- Miami Dolphins (5-10)
- Cincinnati Bengals (11-3)
- Baltimore Ravens (5-10)
- St. Louis Rams (7-8)
- Seattle Seahawks (9-6)
- Oakland Raiders (7-8)