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Recapturing a significant home-field advantage looks like it will be essential to a successful season for the Buffalo Bills in 2004.
The Bills open their campaign in Ralph Wilson Stadium for a fourth straight year when they meet the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 12.
Six of their first 10 games are at home, and their road slate looks decidedly more daunting than their home schedule.
Last season the Bills went only 4-4 at home on their way to a 6-10 finish. They surely will have to do better than .500 in Orchard Park to fight their way into playoff contention.
Three of their eight home opponents - New England, Miami and St. Louis - had winning records last year. The other five home foes are Arizona (4-12), the Jaguars (5-11), Cleveland (5-11), Pittsburgh (6-10) and the New York Jets (6-10).
Of course, forecasting the difficulty of a schedule based on last year's records is risky in the topsy-turvy NFL. However, there's plenty of reason to see potential pitfalls on the road.
For the first time in the team's 45-year history, the Bills must make three regular-season trips to the West Coast. They play at Oakland, Seattle and San Francisco. West Coast trips traditionally are difficult for East Coast teams. Five of the Bills' eight road games are against teams that were .500 or better last year. And the Bills have found difficult sledding on the road in their division. Buffalo is 3-10 in division road games the past four seasons.
The Bills open their campaign in Ralph Wilson Stadium for a fourth straight year when they meet the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 12.
Six of their first 10 games are at home, and their road slate looks decidedly more daunting than their home schedule.
Last season the Bills went only 4-4 at home on their way to a 6-10 finish. They surely will have to do better than .500 in Orchard Park to fight their way into playoff contention.
Three of their eight home opponents - New England, Miami and St. Louis - had winning records last year. The other five home foes are Arizona (4-12), the Jaguars (5-11), Cleveland (5-11), Pittsburgh (6-10) and the New York Jets (6-10).
Of course, forecasting the difficulty of a schedule based on last year's records is risky in the topsy-turvy NFL. However, there's plenty of reason to see potential pitfalls on the road.
For the first time in the team's 45-year history, the Bills must make three regular-season trips to the West Coast. They play at Oakland, Seattle and San Francisco. West Coast trips traditionally are difficult for East Coast teams. Five of the Bills' eight road games are against teams that were .500 or better last year. And the Bills have found difficult sledding on the road in their division. Buffalo is 3-10 in division road games the past four seasons.
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