Buffalo Bills play on Saturday again: What to know about their Week 16 game
ORCHARD PARK — Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Buffalo Bills winning 11 of their first 14 games is that they’ve compiled that record against one of the toughest schedules in the NFL.
The teams they have played to date have a cumulative winning percentage of .531 which is the seventh-highest in the league. Comparatively, the Lions have played the toughest schedule as their opponents have a .590 winning percentage thanks to their playing the Vikings (twice), Bills, Cowboys and Eagles.
As far as the 11 teams the Bills have beaten, they have a winning percentage of .507, which is the second highest figure in the league. Only the Jaguars (.530) have a higher mark, but the big difference is Jacksonville has only six wins.
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And the three games the Bills lost, two tough division games to the Jets and Dolphins, and the inexplicable loss to the Vikings? Those three were by a combined eight points and you could make a case that the Bills should have won all three based on some of the zany things that happened.
All this to make this point: Saturday afternoon, the Bills are finally playing a game against a clearly inferior opponent, the Chicago Bears, who at 3-11 have the second-worst record in the NFL behind only the 1-12-1 Texans.
This will be just the fourth game this season against a team that is currently below .500, the others being the Rams, Browns and Packers. Now, that doesn’t mean the Bills can go into Solider Field and sleepwalk their way to victory. As we just saw this past weekend, crazy, crazy things happen in the NFL, including the aforementioned Texans nearly beating the Chiefs before falling in overtime Sunday.
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That result alone should be a cautionary tale for the Bills to pay attention, but still, this is about as advantageous a matchup as one could hope for when you’re trying to secure a division title as the Bills are.
Here’s an early look ahead to the matchup:
Top players for Chicago Bears on offense, defense
▶ QB Justin Fields: We all know how Josh Allen can crush an opposing defense’s soul when he takes off and runs. Well, the Bills could be in for a taste of their own medicine with Fields who has an even 1,000 yards rushing (Allen has 705) and is on pace to break Lamar Jackson’s all-time QB rushing record of 1,206 yards set in 2019.
▶ RB David Montgomery: He is the Bears No. 1 back, though his 694 rushing yards are way behind Fields’ team-leading total. Montgomery is a tough runner who also has 28 catches for 282 yards.
▶ WR Byron Pringle: For as good as Fields is as a runner, he’s also the QB of the NFL’s worst passing offense which averages a pathetic 142 yards per game. With Darnell Mooney (40 catches) out for the season, Pringle, the ex-Chief, may now be the best outside option. He had a 35-yard TD reception against the Eagles, but he missed half the season with an injury and has only seven catches.
▶ TE Cole Kmet: The 260-pounder is a tough blocker in the run game and he has 39 catches for 433 yards and five TDs, both team highs among players still on the active roster.
▶ DE Trevis Gipson: The Bears pass rush has been mostly terrible and they have only 17 sacks. Gipson has two and he leads the team with a mere 24 QB pressures.
▶ LB Nicholas Morrow: He’s coming off a great game against the Eagles as he made 11 tackles, raising his team-high total to 72. He has 36 stops this season, defined by Pro Football Focus as the player most responsible for the failure of a play.
▶ S Jaquan Brisker: He has probably been the Bears most consistent defender for a pass defense that ranks 15th at 211.7 yards allowed per game.
▶ CB Kyler Gordon: The rookie second-round pick who some thought the Bills might pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft is coming off his best game. He had an interception and fumble recovery against the Eagles, but for the season, he has allowed a completion percentage of 82.0.
What the game means to Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears
The Bills have clinched a playoff berth, but they still need another victory to clinch the AFC East. And because the Chiefs may not lose another game, the Bills have to continue winning to maintain hold of the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC playoff bracket.
For the 3-11 Bears, they are playing out the string and playing for jobs in 2023. At one point they were 3-4, but now have lost seven games in a row. However, a closer look reveals that four of the five losses - to the Jets, Dolphins, Lions and Eagles - were by five points or less.
Who is favored to win Bills vs Bears?
The Bills have opened as 9.5-point favorites for the game.
The money line is Bills minus-400 (bet $400 to win $100) and Bears plus-325 (bet $100 to win $325). The over-under is 41.5.
What time does the Bills vs. Bears game start?
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Solider Field.
How to watch Bills vs. Bears game on TV, streaming
Cable/Network: CBS with announcers Greg Gumbel (play-by-play), Adam Archuleta (analyst) and A.J. Ross (sideline reporter). The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC (Channel 8, Rochester), WIVB (Buffalo area), WTVH (Syracuse area), WKTV (Utica area), WENY (Elmira area), WRGB (Albany area), and WBNG (Binghamton area).
Online streaming services: NFL.com and the NFL mobile app. Also, the NFL has a new streaming service called NFL+ which replaces NFL Game Pass, though you can’t cast the games to your TV - you must watch on your phone or tablet. The cost is $5 a month or $30 for the season, and a premium tier costs $10/$80 which includes all-22 coaches film and condensed and full-game replays. With it, you’ll be able to watch every local game on Sunday and the national games on Monday and Thursday nights as well as the playoffs and the Super Bowl. You can also stream if you have subscriptions to DirecTV, fuboTV, NFL+, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs. Bears game
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 384 (Bills) and channel 229 (Bears). On traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. They include:
Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Who do the Bills play next? Early preview of Week 16 game
