Tough road slate awaits Bills in 2010

By Bud L. Ellis

The road back to .500 will take the Buffalo Bills through some of the toughest ports of call in the National Football League in 2010.

The Bills, who finished 6-10 and in last place in the AFC East last season, will face playoff teams in six of their eight road games this upcoming season, according to the preliminary schedule released by the NFL.

Dates have yet to be announced, but the Bills know their home and road opponents for Chan Gailey’s first season as head coach. And when it comes to the team Buffalo will visit, most are squads that finished 2009 in the postseason picture.

Buffalo has road games against both teams that lost in the conference finals – the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings. The Bills also travel to face AFC East champ New England, AFC North champ Cincinnati, and playoff qualifiers Green Bay and Baltimore. The combined 2009 record of those six teams: 61-35.

Buffalo’s other two road games come at Miami and at Kansas City. Of the eight road opponents, seven finished last season with seven or more wins.

Both the Patriots and the Jets will visit Ralph Wilson Stadium, but the home schedule is softer. The Bills play host to four teams that finished under .500 last season – Miami, Jacksonville, Detroit and Cleveland. The other two home games are against teams that barely missed the playoffs: Pittsburgh and Chicago.

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Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 7:29 am by Bud · No Comments

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Chan Gailey, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, National Football League, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Ralph Wilson Stadium