Buffalo Bills: Preseason Schedule, TJ Yates, DeShone Kizer and More
By Ryan Brennan
The Buffalo Bills made a couple announcements on Monday, including updates on TJ Yates, DeShone Kizer and the preseason schedule.
The Buffalo Bills, much like the rest of the NFL, are preparing for the NFL Draft that begins in a couple of weeks. That means offseason minicamps, OTA’s and all that follows are right around the corner. That means we are one step closer to watching football on Sunday’s again — as well as Thursday and Monday.
Along with the rest of the NFL, Buffalo now knows who they will be playing this preseason as schedules were announced on Monday. The list features one team the Bills played last regular season, one team they played last preseason, a team they haven’t played since 2015 and one they haven’t played since 2014.
Let’s start with Week 1.
To open the preseason, the Buffalo Bills will host the Minnesota Vikings — this is the team they haven’t played since 2014. In that last matchup, which was Week 7 of the 2014 regular season, the Bills turned out a 17-16 victory with Kyle Orton at quarterback.
Orton finished 31/43, 283 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT and Sammy Watkins added 9 catches, 122 yards and 2 TD. C.J. Spiller had a 53-yard run to help bring the Bills’ record to 4-3 at the time. They would finish the season 9-7, but would lose their head coach and see the disastrous Rex Ryan era begin the following season.
It will be the first preseason game between Minnesota and Buffalo since 2013.
For Week 2 of preseason, the Buffalo Bills will travel to play the Philadelphia Eagles — this is the team they haven’t played since 2015. It will be LeSean McCoy’s second game against his former team since joining Buffalo in 2015.
Buffalo’s last matchup with Philadelphia came Week 14 of the 2015 regular season, so it wasn’t that long ago. The Bills would lose 23-20, bringing their record to 6-7 in Rex Ryan’s first year as head coach. Tyrod Taylor finished with 268 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT, while McCoy added 74 yards rushing.
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Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods combined for 10 catches, 187 yards and 1 TD. This will be the first preseason game between the two teams since 2000 and will be the 10th meeting all-time.
Moving on to Week 3, the Buffalo Bills will host the Baltimore Ravens — this is the team they played last season. In fact, the Bills opened their 2016 regular season vs. Baltimore, although it wouldn’t exactly go as planned.
Starting the season 0-1, Buffalo would lose 13-7 and would struggle mightily on the offensive side of the ball. Taylor would finish with just 111 yards, McCoy just 58 yards and Watkins just 43 yards. A 66-yard TD pass from Flacco made all the difference and began the downfall of the Rex Ryan era in Buffalo.
The last time the Bills traveled to Baltimore for a preseason game was in 2003.
Lastly, the Buffalo Bills will be ending their preseason vs. the Detroit Lions — this is the team they always play in the preseason. In fact, the two teams have met in the preseason each year for the past 16 seasons.
Last season, the Bills ended their preseason in Detroit with a 31-0 defeat. Cardale Jones finished with 117 yards and 1 INT, Daniel Herron had 35 yards rushing and Nick O’Leary added 6 catches for 63 yards. Jake Rudock, Lions’ QB, had quite the day vs. Buffalo’s defense with 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Times and dates of the games have yet to be announced, but will be known soon. What do you guys think of our lineup this preseason?
Moving on to some other news we learned on Monday, the Buffalo Bills made quite the decision in signing what will most likely be their backup quarterback next season.