The 2026 season schedule is officially here, and the Buffalo Bills will be starting off their season on the road in Week 1 to take on the Houston Texans. There is no doubt that the Bills have a ton of pressure that they are staring at going into the Joe Brady era.
Buffalo has a great amount of games in primetime, giving them the chance to show the whole world that even with the changes that they went through this offseason, they are still one of the best teams in the league. However, we will see what they are made of when they hit the field.
With the release of the schedule being just two days ago, we have decided to put together a way-too-early record prediction for the Bills in the 2026 season. Obviously, this is bound to change leading up to the season but for now, these are what the initial thoughts are.
Way-too-early record prediction for Bills
Week 1 (9/13): @ Houston Texans - 1PM EST
This is not an ideal starting point for the Bills. The Texans have had the Bills’ number when these two face off in Houston. Last season, the Texans punished Josh Allen and the Bills’ offensive line. Houston added more defensive line help with Kayden McDonald, but the Bills made upgrades on offense that should help Allen not hang onto the ball for long.
Even with the improvements on the offense, the Bills take the early Week 1 loss to the Texans in a close game.
Record: 0-1
Week 2 (9/17): Detroit Lions (Thursday Night Football) - 8:15PM EST
The first ever game at the new Highmark Stadium will take place on a Thursday night with the Detroit Lions coming to town. There is going to be so much excitement with the opening of this stadium. With the built up excitement and coming off a loss against the Texans, the Bills bounce back and get their first win in the Joe Brady era against the Lions.
Record: 1-1
Week 3 (9/27): Los Angeles Chargers - 1PM EST
The Bills get a little bit of extra rest and preparation for this matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. The loss of Jesse Minter for their defense is going to hurt at times, and that’s where Joe Brady needs to take advantage of it. The Chargers know how to put up a fight against any opponent and while they will get their shots at Buffalo, the Bills take this game.
Record: 2-1
Week 4 (10/4): New England Patriots - 1PM EST
Last season in Week 5, the Bills suffered their first loss against the New England Patriots in Orchard Park. Buffalo played sloppy football and they let Drake Maye look like Tom Brady in the pocket. That won’t be the case this time as the Bills take an early win against the Patriots.
Record: 3-1
Week 5 (10/12): @ Los Angeles Rams (Monday Night Football) - 8:15PM EST
The last time the Bills and Rams met in LA, it was a close loss for the Bills where they scored 42 points, but gave up 44 to the Rams. Josh Allen had six total touchdowns in this game and had it not been for a very slow start, the Bills would have won this game.
Coming into this matchup, the Rams have arguably the best roster in the entire league. I expect this game to be high-scoring, but the Bills fall short in primetime.
Record: 3-2
Week 6 (10/18): @ Las Vegas Raiders - 4:25PM EST
The second consecutive west coast game for the Bills here. It will be interesting to see if the Bills come back to Buffalo on a short week, or if they just decide to stay out west to prepare for the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders have done a lot of things right this offseason. Klint Kubiak is one of the best offensive minds in the game and the roster is overall a lot better. No matter whether it’s Kirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza under center, the Bills take this game and bounce back.
Record: 4-2
Week 7: BYE WEEK
Week 8 (11/1): Baltimore Ravens - 1PM EST
Under Sean McDermott, the Bills never lost a game coming off their bye week. Going into the Joe Brady era, that could easily change. However, getting the Ravens off a bye week with Baltimore coming off an AFC North battle against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bills have a massive advantage. With that, they take down the Ravens in the early window.
Record: 5-2
Week 9 (11/9): @ Minnesota Vikings (Monday Night Football) - 8:15PM EST
There is always that one game where the Bills just simply don’t play well and nothing seems to go right for them. When you look back at last season, that game was in Week 6 when they went to Atlanta and the Falcons completely walked all over them in primetime.
I’m not saying that the Vikings are going to handle Buffalo with ease, but they are no push over and if Kyler Murray can raise his game with Kevin O’Connell as his coach, he’s going to be dangerous. The Vikings take this game and Buffalo drops to 0-2 on Monday Night Football in the season.
Record: 5-3
Week 10 (11/15): @ New York Jets - 1PM
For the first time since Week 4, the Bills take on an AFC East opponent and this week it’s the New York Jets in New Jersey. There’s no doubt that the Jets made some solid moves this offseason and have prepared themselves for a bright future. Then again, it’s the Jets…something is bound to go wrong. Buffalo walks into MetLife and takes this game with ease.
Record: 6-3
Week 11 (11/22): Miami Dolphins - 1PM EST
The first matchup between the Bills and the Dolphins takes place late in November in Orchard Park, giving the Bills the weather advantage. There’s a case to be made that the Dolphins could be the worst team in the league this year simply because of the lack of talent. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Bills win by 21+ points.
Record: 7-3
Week 12 (11/26): Kansas City Chiefs (Thanksgiving Day) - 8:20PM EST
The toughest stretch of the Bills’ schedule starts this week on Thanksgiving with hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. The good news for the Bills is that it's at home and when it comes to the regular season, Buffalo has the upper edge on the Chiefs. That streak continues, but in primetime this year as the Chiefs take the Thanksgiving dub.
Record: 8-3
Week 13 (12/6): @ New England Patriots - 4:25PM EST
In Week 4, we had the Bills taking the Patriots down in Buffalo. The Bills made an epic comeback against the Patriots last year in Foxborough after they were down by 21 points at one point. Even with the fight that the Bills will put up, these two teams split the season series and the Bills drop this one.
Record: 8-4
Week 14 (12/13): @ Green Bay Packers (Sunday Night Football) - 8:20PM EST
The Bills are on the road again, but this time they are at a place where it can get colder than Buffalo. They will be in primetime against the Packers in Green Bay for a Sunday night battle.
Buffalo was shutout by the Packers the last time they faced each other in Lambeau. This game could easily become a run fest where James Cook is the star of the show. If Buffalo can establish the run game early, they will be able to control the tempo of the game. I have the Bills winning this game in a low-scoring game.
Record: 9-4
Week 15 (12/19): Chicago Bears - 8:20PM EST
I see “Game of the Year” for this matchup. Saturday night primetime against the Chicago Bears, the Bills will play host to this game in front of Bills Mafia. The first matchup between Josh Allen and Caleb Williams, but have the capability to extend plays and make the jaw-dropping moments that have fans in disbelief.
It would not be surprising to see this game have over 80 total points scored. In the end, the Bills have a lot more primetime experience than the Bears do in recent memory and with this game being in Buffalo, the Bills take this epic showdown victory.
Record: 10-4
Week 16 (12/25): @ Denver Broncos (Christmas Day) - 4:30PM EST
A rematch of last year’s divisional round. The Broncos didn’t just end Buffalo’s season last year, they also ended Sean McDermott’s tenure as the Bills’ head coach. Now, Joe Brady will be leading the Bills into Denver on Christmas to get revenge from last season. One of the biggest advantages that the Bills have is that Jim Leonhard will be on the Buffalo sideline instead of Denver’s.
Despite Josh Allen being responsible for four turnovers in the playoffs against Denver, the Bills still scored 30 points. If he can avoid the turnovers, the Bills will take this game with little to no issues.
Record: 11-4
Week 17 (1/3): @ Miami Dolphins - 1PM EST
Buffalo gets out of the cold weather this week as they will be down in south Florida to take on the Dolphins. We had the Bills beating the Dolphins earlier with no issue. It should be the same story once again, just in enemy territory.
Record: 12-4
Week 18 (1/9 OR 1/10): New York Jets (TIME TBD)
At this point, the Bills should have their playoff seeding figured out. Last year in Week 18 when the Bills were already in the playoffs, they still managed to destroy the Jets in the final game at the original Highmark Stadium. With their regular season set to end in Highmark again, history repeats itself where the Bills take care of business with no issues against the Jets.
Record: 13-4
Add us as a preferred source on Google