Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Kickoff for the 2024 season of football is just around the corner for the Buffalo Bills, as they get set to host the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
Heading into this upcoming season, the Bills have a much different look than in years past. This comes following an offseason of transition with multiple staples of the team moving on. This includes the likes of Mitch Morse, Jordan Poyer and Tre'Davious White being cut to clear cap space, Gabe Davis being let go in free agency, and Micah Hyde likely walking off into the sunset with his career.
Perhaps the biggest move of the offseason came when the Bills traded veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick, by way of the Minnesota Vikings.
With the changeover at-hand this year, to go along with quite the daunting schedule in front of them, some are predicting the Bills to take a step back this upcoming season from their 11-6 finish in 2023.
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Some of the tougher opponents on the Bills' 2024 schedule include the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, along with other matchups against teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, and divisional showdowns with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.
Up first, though, will be the Cardinals, which is a team with high hopes after recently drafting star wide receiving prospect Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Meanwhile, quarterback Kyler Murray is expected to play his first full season in two years after suffering a torn ACL during the 2022 season.
Despite the roster turnover, despite the schedule difficulty, Howard Simon is never one to back down from putting his picking skills to the test.
In the first of his now weekly "Howard Picks the Bills" segments for the 2024 season, Howard started off a bit shaky with the first half of the season, seeing the Bills with a 5-6 record heading into the Week 12 bye.
However, Howard was confident in the Bills' ability to turn up the heat in the final stretch of the season, having Buffalo win five of the last six games to finish at 10-7.
While that mark may not be good enough to win the AFC East once again, depending on how everyone else does, it may be enough to get the Bills back in to the playoffs, where anything can happen starting in the AFC Wild Card Round.
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 to, as well as watch the latest edition of "Howard Picks the Bills" below:
