The Bills face the Jets this weekend and, for the second time this season, the Jets will be heading into the game off extra rest.
The Jets had a bye in Week 10 and they had played on Thursday night in Week Two before their first matchup with the Bills, something the Bills feel leaves them at a disadvantage against their AFC East rivals. It’s a situation the Bills have found themselves in often this year as they’ve faced the Dolphins and Saints coming out of bye weeks and the Bengals after a Thursday night game. They’ll face the Jaguars 10 days after Jacksonville’s previous outing later in the season and the team has reached out to the league to complain about facing six well-rested teams this season.
“We certainly have talked to the league about this because it’s been disappointing where teams are coming off a bye or a long week,” CEO Russ Brandon said, via the team’s website. “This is the second time we’re playing the Jets coming off a Thursday night game and now we’re playing them coming off a bye. We lead the league in amount of games coming off of extra time or a bye week. It is a very, very tough job what they have in scheduling with all the different things that go into the formula and the stadium commitments and TV schedules, but it’s certainly something that needs to be addressed.”
There is just one other team in the league with as many as four games against opponents coming off extra rest, which certainly works against the parity that the league strives for in other facets of the game. The difficulties of making the schedule will always leave someone with a short stick, but it’s hard to disagree with the Bills’ feeling that it need not be so much shorter than all the others.