Buffalo Rumblings
Buffalo finds itself in front of a primetime audience early and often in 2025
The Buffalo Bills will find themselves in front of a national audience often during the 2025 NFL season. In fact, they get an early jump on primetime action when they travel to the Windy City for a Week 2 preseason matchup against the Chicago Bears.
With a slate of three preseason games, the second exhibition has taken on the role of “dress rehearsal” for most clubs. That’s likely to hold true for head coach Sean McDermott and the Bills, which means a larger audience should get to watch more of Buffalo’s starters in action. It’s also the only Sunday game on the team’s preseason schedule.
Certainly, one should not expect the Bills to reveal too much in front of a huge audience tuned in to NBC’s preseason Sunday Night Football broadcast. What we may find the most clarity in pertains to roster spots and the depth chart. That is: who starts with whom, and in what packages are certain players featured above others?
The least amount of roster drama is at quarterback, where all of Bills Mafia will again be living in Josh Allen’s world in 2025. Allen makes for must-see TV, and you can bet that One Bills Drive will do all they can to ensure he’s well-insulated from contact and injury against a Bears team hungry to show their improvements.
When considering their preseason appearance in front of a primetime audience, the Bills will play a total of six times in the national spotlight — including two Thursday Night Football on Prime games. Adding in the four additional Sunday spotlight games during the 4 p.m. ET window, Buffalo sees itself in front of large television audiences a combined 10 times (plus the potential for a Week 18 flex).
This is great news for members of Bills Mafia who don’t live within the team’s local broadcast window. Traditionally, Buffalo’s preseason games have been limited to local audiences only, often early afternoon or evening Saturday affairs.
Odds are high that NBC’s broadcast will endeavor to share some of the content produced during the Bills’ appearance on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series this summer. They’re also likely to spend a healthy amount of air space discussing the long-term roster moves general manager Brandon Beane pulled off this spring, as well Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Allen’s California wedding, set for May 31.
It’s a reminder that these are not your parents’ or grandparents’ Bills. The days of 1 p.m. ET games is, for now, firmly behind the franchise — with just seven games scheduled in that window for the 2025 regular season.
