Buffalo Bills 2026 game-by-game predictions following schedule release

The Buffalo Bills did not get an NFL international game for the third straight year which seems a bit strange given that Josh Allen is their quarterback, and they’re the only team to have appeared in the postseason seven years in a row. However, when the schedule was officially released Thursday night, it showed that the NFL still deems the Bills a big-time draw as they were slotted in for the maximum amount allowed six primetime games, one of those on Thanksgiving night , and three in the high-visibility late afternoon time slot including one of the robust Christmas day schedule. And if the Bills are once again a playoff team in Joe Brady’s first year as head coach, there’s also the chance for more big window games through late-season flexing.

Initially, the Bills will play two night games on Thursday, two on Monday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, and the Christmas game in Denver is on a Friday late afternoon. So the only days they aren’t playing are Tuesday and Wednesday. The first primetime game is the most anticipated of all - Week 2 against the Detroit Lions on Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football, the first regular-season game in brand new Highmark Stadium.

How tough is this schedule? It’s always difficult to calculate because who knows how any of the teams are going to look down the road, but the Sharp Football Analysis model for strength of schedule is a solid metric. It computes its ranking on the oddsmakers' projected win totals for every team because those are based on the most current information regarding roster additions and subtractions, lingering injuries, and coaching changes.

That model - which projects Buffalo at 10. 5 wins - has the Bills just on the easier side of neutral at 14th-easiest. That's quite a change from 2025 when they had the fifth-easiest schedule, but it's also hard to believe because this schedule, on the surface, looks very tough.