2011 Schedule Released

   The NFL announced the official 2011 schedule on Tuesday evening.  On the condition, of course, there is a season at all, the Buffalo Bills will kick off Week One with a Sunday afternoon matchup in Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs.
   In addition to the traditional six games against AFC East rivals, Buffalo will face the eight teams in the AFC West (San Diego, Kansas City, Oakland, Denver) and NFC East (Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Dallas).  To round out the schedule, the 5-11 Bills will also take on Cincinnati and Tennessee.
   The team's bye week will be Week 7, followed by the annual Toronto game - this year against Washington.  Fans may be disappointed to see there are no primetime games slated for the Bills in 2011.   The full schedule is as follows:

      1.       (Sunday, Sept. 11, 1pm):              at Kansas City

2.       (Sunday, Sept. 18, 1pm):              Oakland

3.       (Sunday, Sept. 25, 1pm):              New England

4.       (Sunday, Oct. 2, 1pm):                 at Cincinnati

5.       (Sunday, Oct. 9, 1pm):                 Philadelphia

6.       (Sunday, Oct. 16, 1pm):               at New York Giants

7.       Bye

8.       (Sunday, Oct. 30, 4:05pm):          Washington (in Toronto)

9.       (Sunday, Nov. 6, 1pm):                 New York Jets

10.     (Sunday, Nov. 13, 1pm):               at Dallas

11.     (Sunday, Nov. 20, 1pm):               at Miami

12.     (Sunday, Nov. 27, 1pm):               at New York Jets

13.     (Sunday, Dec. 4, 1pm):                 Tennessee

14.     (Sunday, Dec. 11, 4:15pm):          at San Diego

15.     (Sunday, Dec. 18, 1pm):               Miami

16.     (Saturday, Dec. 24, 1pm):             Denver

17.     (Sunday, Jan. 1, 1pm):                  at New England

Analysis:
   With free agency in limbo and the draft not scheduled until next week, it's probably too early to diagnose how tough the Bills schedule is this year.  After all, the Bills and their opponents are almost identical to last year's squads.
   Based on previous seasons, the games against Oakland, Cincinnati, Washington, Tennessee and Denver look like the easiest matchups.  If the team makes strides in personnel over the next couple months, wins are also very possible against Kansas City and Miami.
  Unfortunately, the rest of the schedule looks pretty tough.  The Bills will have to make a lot of improvements to stand a chance upsetting New England, the New York Jets, Philadelphia, Dallas, the New York Giants or San Diego.
   As it stands, this is how I see the 2011 season:

Best Case Scenario:  8-8
Worst Case Scenario:  5-11
Prediction:  7-9