Buffalo Bills: Road to the playoffs expects to be tougher in 2020
If the Buffalo Bills hope to go back to the playoffs in 2020, the road to get there appears to much more challenging than this past season.
The Buffalo Bills earned their second playoff appearance in three years under Sean McDermott. However, many of the naysayers will point to the fact that the Bills were able to get there in part to a favorable schedule.
The Bills started the year winning five of their first six games with wins over the New York Jets, New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans and the Miami Dolphins. Meanwhile the lone loss came against the New England Patriots.
In all, the Bills only played four playoff teams in five games during the regular season (Patriots twice, Titans, Eagles and Ravens) and only went 1-4.
While this is all true, the Bills can only play who is on their schedule. However, if the Bills make the playoffs in 2020, there will be no question left if they deserve to be there based on their opponents next season.
The schedule is not set for 2020 but the opponents are locked in. In addition to the six games against divisional opponents (Patriots, Jets, Dolphins) the Bills will face the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Aside from the fact that the Bills will be playing three playoff teams at home, the toughest part of their schedule may be the games on the road. They will be taking four trips to either the Mountain or Pacific time zones with games against the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and San Francisco 49ers. They also will be traveling to face the Tennessee Titans for the second consecutive season.
There is certainly a great deal that can change between now and the start of 2020 season from offseason moves to injuries during training camp or in season. At this time last year, the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers looked much tougher prior to Ben Roethlisberger’s injury and Antonio Brown’s trade.
Next. Grades for the Bills defensive starters in 2019. dark
Even if the Buffalo Bills improve the roster, it would not be surprising to see the Bills win-loss record remains the same, or even drop from 2019 based on how the 2020 schedule plays out.