Breaking down the Bills 2008 Schedule

by Devin Dombrowski

I figured with some free time before the season starts it would be fun to break down the schedule and make some type of prediction on the overall season.

Sure it’s easy to say they will finish 7-9 again or even 9-7, but it’s even more fun to go game by game and see how we come to that prediction. So without anymore useless rambling, here is my breakdown of the 2008 Bills schedule.

Week 1 – vs Seattle
Normally I would chalk this up as a loss since Seattle is usually one of the better teams, but I honestly feel the Bills will win this game. Never mind the fact that I will be attending the game and be very upset if I witness another home opening loss. The Bills are catching Seattle at a very good time. Matt Hasselbeck is banged up along with a few of his receivers. Chalk this one up as a Buffalo win. (1-0)

Week 2 – at Jacksonville
This is going to be an extremely tough game for the young Bills. They played Jacksonville somewhat decently last year but right now I think it would be a huge upset if the Bills could top the Jags in week 2. (1-1)

Week 3 – vs Oakland
The Raiders aren’t going to be an easy win, but it should be a win regardless. The Raiders are traveling cross country which is an advantage for the Bills, plus the Bills overall field a better team than the Raiders do. (2-1)

Week 4 - at St. Louis
Assuming the Bills can contain Bulger, Jackson, and Holt, this should be a win for Buffalo. They have the comfort of the dome and a somewhat weak St. Louis team. By now the Bills offense should be coming together nicely and should put up a decent amount of points. (3-1)

Week 5 - at Arizona
This is a classic trap game for the Bills. One person might look at this game and think the Bills will have an easy time, but teams always seem to struggle in the trap game. If Boldin is ready to go the Arizona offense will be a tough one to stop. I’m hoping for an easy Bills win but you can never bank on anything in the trap game. (3-2)

Week 7 – vs San Diego
Even more than Jacksonville, if the Bills could pull off a win against the Chargers it would be an absolute huge upset. However, I don’t see it happening. The Chargers have more talent and more skill at key positions and they should be able to pull this one out. (3-3)

Week 8 – at Miami
To simply piss off the Dolphin fans, this should be an easy win. I have no fear of Chad Pennington. In fact, even when the Jets were a playoff team I was always confident that the Bills would handle them simply because of Chad Pennington. The Dolphins will be better than the one win they had last year, but they won’t be that much better just yet. (4-3)

Week 9 – vs Jets
I don’t see the Bills losing to the Jets at home either. The addition of Favre to the Jets is definitely an improvement on Clemens or Pennington, but people who think he will magically transform the Jets into a playoff team need to lay off the booze. The Jets were not a good team last year. They won’t be a playoff team this year. Brett Favre had a good season last year, but in the previous two seasons he stunk up the joint. Don’t let one good season fool you. (5-3)

Week 10 – at Patriots
I don’t see anyway possible that the Bills win in New England. Unless of course Tom Brady and Randy Moss don’t play the game. (5-4)

Week 11 – Browns
This is going to be an extremely tough game for Buffalo. I’m sure the bitter disappointment of last year’s MNF debacle is fresh in the Bills mind and will be for this game. I think the game will be a close one but I’m giving the edge to Buffalo (because I’m a homer). (6-4)

Week 12 – at Chiefs
Arrowhead is a tough place to play but the Chiefs probably won’t be a tough team to play. They are headed in the right direction but I don’t see it happening this year. The Bills should win this game with some ease. (7-4)

Week 13 – 49ers
The JT O’Sullivan show comes to Buffalo…YAY! But seriously, the 49ers are a mess. They will be lucky to put up 20 points a game. The Bills will have no excuse not to win this game. (8-4)

Week 14 – Dolphins (Toronto)
The Bills make good on another sweep of the Dolphins as they take this one to Toronto. It won’t be a cakewalk (since it’s in a dome and not at the Ralph) but the Bills should be able to handle the Fins. (9-4)

Week 15 – at Jets
Obviously everyone knows how I feel about the Favre situation and the Jets, but the Bills won’t sweep them. Just as they are rolling into December, the Jets will find a way to down the Bills at home and possibly ruin their playoff chances. (9-5)

Week 16 – at Broncos
This could be a very important wildcard deciding game. I’m giving the edge to Denver simply because of the home field advantage. Honestly, I think both teams are pretty equal but home field has to stand for something in a playoff race, right? (9-6)

Week 17 – Patriots
With all the Patriots starters resting and getting ready for the playoffs, the Bills get their tenth win in the last week! I know, the Bills struggle immensely against New England and Bill Belicheck loves stomping on Buffalo, but without any starters in the Patriots won’t be able to pull this one out. (10-6)

So there you have it. The Bills should end up around 10-6 this season if the breakdown shakes out like I have it. Sure, I picked a few wins because I’m a homer, but where is the harm in that? I thought I was pretty fair with some of the games and if the Bills play to their fullest potential I don’t see why this can’t happen. Will they make the playoffs? Who knows? Normally 10 wins is good enough but recently in the AFC that isn’t always good enough (Cleveland last year) so I guess we’ll have to see how everyone else does. For everyone with hate mail, feel free to send it to me at devindombrowski@gmail.com.