Week 2: Las Vegas Raiders at Buffalo Bills
The Las Vegas Raiders made notable changes at quarterback this offseason by trading away Derek Carr and replacing him by signing free agent Jimmy Garoppolo. The former 49ers quarterback is familiar with Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels from their time together on the New England Patriots.
It remains to be seen if Garoppolo can get more out of an offense that does include players like Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs. Even if he does, the defense is still a major concern for this team and the Bills offense with Josh Allen should be able to put up a big score that helps them walk away with the win in the home opener of the 2023 season.
Prediction: Win (2-0)
Week 3: Buffalo Bills at Washington Commanders
This game has a little extra motivation for Sean McDermott as he will be matching wits with his former boss, Ron Rivera. McDermott was a long-time coordinator for Rivera, who was head coach at the time for the Carolina Panthers.
This will be the third matchup between the two coaches with Rivera winning the first meeting back in 2017, when he was still with the Panthers. The more recent meeting was two years ago in a game the Bills would beat the Commanders pretty easily by a final score of 42-21.
Outside of the home game against the Tampa Bay Bucs, this is probably one of the easiest games on the Buffalo Bills schedule for this upcoming season. A win wouldn't do much in terms of tiebreakers but this is a must-win for the team this season and they should be able to secure the win.