The Buffalo Bills have been on the precipice of their first NFL championship for a half-decade now, and The Ringer’s Bill Simmons believes this could finally be their year.
All thanks to the league office.
During the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the Sports Guy unleashed a conspiracy that the NFL may have intentionally crafted a cake schedule for the Bills this season. As a result, Simmons projected Josh Allen and the boys to nab the 1-seed in the AFC and finish with an even better record than last season.
“It’s too hard for me to get out of this seat and put the Conspiracy Bill outfit, (but) it felt like the league stacked 2025 for Buffalo a little bit,” Simmons explained. “Home games: Baltimore, KC, Philly, Cincy and Tampa. All of them home. Road games, they’re playing five bad 2024 teams plus Atlanta, they’re at Houston and they’re at Pittsburgh … they might not play an above-.500 team on the road.”
It was just a couple weeks ago that Simmons controversially named Allen the top quarterback in the NFL, and now he is doubling down on his Buffalo love. That love, however, is not just based on his own analysis but a belief that the league is stacking things in Buffalo’s favor.
It is hard to argue with the schedule. The Bills have gone on the road three of the past four seasons for their annual tilt with the Chiefs. This year, they are not only home for that game but also home against the Ravens after traveling to Baltimore early last season.
The NFL doesn’t need a Buffalo Super Bowl to pay the bills by any means. Several contending teams are probably bigger national draws. But when we see someone like Joe Burrow campaigning publicly for a more balanced Bengals schedule, Simmons can’t be the only one wondering whether the Bills lobbied behind the scenes and were dealt a better hand in 2025.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.