Buffalo Bills Face Brutal Five-Week Stretch That Will Determine Their Season

Beginning with a Thanksgiving matchup with the Chiefs, the Bills have a brutal stretch of games over a five-week period that could determine their season.

Buffalo Bills RB James Cook III runs against Denver Broncos LB Jonah Elliss and defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Earlier this week, the 2026 NFL schedule was announced and while the Buffalo Bills and the rest of the league already knew who their opponents would be, they now know when they will face each one.

For Buffalo, the most interesting part of their schedule happened to be the number of prime time games they would be featured in during the holiday season. The Bills found out shortly before the reveal that they would face the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving, which will be the first Buffalo home game on this holiday.

They will also visit the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day, a game we recently identified as one of their prime "revenge games." Between those two contests, the Bills will face a brutal stretch of games. This five week period, which will mostly be played out in front of a national audience, will be key in deciding the team's fate for the 2026 season.

Bills face five-week gauntlet of legit contenders

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III has a wide open area to run the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Week 12 game against Kansas City is just the start. After that, the Bills take on the defending AFC East champions, the New England Patriots in Week 13. They will then face two contenders from the NFC North in the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, both in primetime games. Finally, they end this stretch with the Broncos on Christmas.

We ranked the Chiefs and Broncos battles as two of the Bills' three most-difficult matchups in our listing of games from easiest to toughest.

Week 12 vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Thanksgiving)
Week 13 at New England Patriots
Week 14 at Green Bay Packers (Sunday Night Football)
Week 15 vs. Chicago Bears (Saturday Night Football)
Week 16 at Denver Broncos (Christmas)

Oddly enough, the only team on this list that didn't make the playoffs in 2025 was the Chiefs. While they struggled through much of the season, Patrick Mahomes missed the final three games of the season with a torn ACL, all three of which were losses.

Expecting them to have another subpar season would be foolish, especially since this was their first losing season since 2012. The rest of the teams finished with a combined record of 34-16-1 and were all in the playoffs.

Iron Sharpens Iron

Buffalo Bills TE Dawson Knox celebrates with QB Josh Allen after scoring a touchdown against the New England Patriots. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Bills On SI writer Alex Brasky discussed how the schedule makers "screwed" the Bills this season. He stated that they face one playoff contender after another, while traveling thousands of miles in the process.

There are plenty of teams that can claim this as well, but stretches like the five-week run during the holidays are an example of how tough Buffalo has it in 2026. The good news, however, is that this can be seen as an opportunity.

It's known that iron sharpens iron, so the Bills can use their schedule as a way to become stronger, and gain plenty of confidence for a deep playoff run.

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