Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The long wait for a return of NFL football is finally over.
The 2023 NFL regular season is set to kick off this Thursday night when the reigning Super Bowl LVII champion Kansas City Chiefs play host to the upstart Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium.
As for the Buffalo Bills, they will look to win their fourth-consecutive AFC East and, once again, compete for a Super Bowl title when their season starts this coming Monday in a prime-time showdown with Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
The Bills' road to AFC East supremacy and a playoff berth in 2023 will not be an easy one. Buffalo's schedule is one of the hardest in the NFL, with matchups against the likes of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Cincinnati Bengals, and Jets and Miami Dolphins teams that are looking to dethrone the Bills atop the division.
It all starts on "Monday Night Football", though, in the Meadowlands against a Jets squad that has revamped its lineup with Rodgers under center in his first year with the organization. Not only did New York add the veteran signal caller in an offseason trade with the Green Bay Packers, but the Jets also brought in some additional veteran pieces to go along with the young group already in place.
And, of course, with another football season upon us in Western New York comes the time-honored tradition unlike any other on WGR... Howard Simon picking the Bills!
Despite the added challenges ahead for the Bills this upcoming season, including the season-opening prime-time affair, Howard feels confident the Bills are the better team and can win Week 1 in New Jersey.
To start the 2023 season, Howard has the Bills getting off to a blazing-hot start, winning seven of their first eight games. Buffalo's only blemish, according to Howard, comes in a Week 5 loss across the pond to the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.
After a bit of a rough stretch before the bye week with Buffalo losing three of their next four games, Howard firmly believes the Bills will rebound in Week 14 with a statement win, once again, over the Chiefs in Kansas City. He then follows that win with the Bills capturing three more wins in their final four games to finish the 2023 campaign with a 12-5 record!
Be sure to follow along on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest picks from Howard by using the hashtag #HowardPicksTheBills. You can also track all of Howard's picks throughout the season with Brayton Wilson's picks tracker on X: @BraytonJWilson.
You can listen and watch to the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" available in the player below: