In 2017, Sean McDermott’s first season as head coach and the year before Josh Allen was picked in the first round of the NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills played 14 of their 16 games at 1 p.m. Even their wild-card playoff game that season in Jacksonville was an early start.

The only outliers were a 4:05 game in Los Angeles against the Chargers, and an 8:25 start at the Meadowlands against the Jets, and that was only because every team had to be placed in at least one primetime game.

Fast forward to 2023 when the three-time defending AFC East champion Bills will be playing just five of their first 16 games in the early 1 p.m. window (the season finale at Miami is still to be determined). And three of those will come in the first four weeks including the Week 2 home opener against the Raiders.

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In all the Bills play six primetime games – same as the Super Bowl champion Chiefs – and four others in the 4:25 time slot, which is usually a national audience game. Also, they have the 9:30 a.m. meeting with the Jaguars in London, which is a standalone time slot.

Between their Week 7 game at New England, and the Week 17 game against the Patriots at home, which are both 1 p.m. starts, the Bills play eight straight that will kick off either at 4:25 or after 8 p.m.

Buffalo Bills full 2023 schedule: Dates, times, including six primetime games

Yeah, we live in a different world and western New York football weekends are vastly different now that the Bills have become one of the NFL’s primetime or big window teams.

Last year there were eight such games: six in primetime, one in the 4:25 national window, and the Thanksgiving national game in Detroit. Of course one of the night games in Cincinnati was canceled after just eight minutes when Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field.

Here are my other observations on the schedule:

NFL wastes no time showcasing Aaron Rodgers

The new Jets quarterback predictably is getting the big stage treatment as New York will host the Bills in the season-opening Monday Night Football game on Sept. 11 at MetLife Stadium.

It’s a juicy matchup between two of the league’s premier quarterbacks, who each have a victory against the other. Rodgers and his Packers beat Allen in his 2018 rookie season, and last year the Bills defeated Green Bay at Highmark Stadium.

Allen has come to know Rodgers, partly because they faced each other on the golf course a couple years ago in The Match. Rodgers and Tom Brady defeated Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

Wednesday, appearing on Kyle Brandt’s podcast, Allen said, “I love Aaron. I saw him at the (Kentucky) Derby. Got to talk with him for a little bit, like he’s one of my favorite quarterbacks of all time. I think he’s the most gifted thrower of all time, his body mechanics, like, I try to emulate what he does. I’ve been such a big fan of him for so long and to kind of have the relationship that we have like, it’s still surreal to me that he’s taken a liking into me like that.”

To which Bills fans will surely say, “Yeah, that’s fine, but make sure you beat him. Twice in fact.”

On paper, the schedule is very difficult

Based on the 2022 records of their opponents, the Bills are playing the seventh-toughest schedule in the league, though as we all recognize, that means absolutely nothing because every team changes from season to season.

For example, the Jets finished 7-10 last season, but they will likely be a much better team with Rodgers, perhaps even the division winner if you believe some analysts.

There really isn’t a single game on the schedule where you would expect the Bills to be a prohibitive favorite, something that occurred many times over the past three years. Counting Miami twice, 10 of the Bills’ 17 games will come against teams that made the playoffs in 2022.

That includes the two Super Bowl 57 participants and the Bills will play them back-to-back, though they do have a bye week in between. In Week 12 they travel to Philadelphia for a Nov. 26 showdown with the NFC champs, then return to action in Week 14 for their latest visit to Kansas City on Dec. 10. Both of those are 4:25 starts.

The Bills will be home for the holidays

The holiday season will be football-free for the Bills because they are not playing on Thanksgiving Day, something they’ve done three of the previous four years.

And on Christmas weekend, while the bulk of the teams are playing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the Bills will be in Los Angeles for a Saturday, Dec. 23, game against the Chargers. Even New Year's Eve is favorable because the Bills will be home against the Patriots.

That game against the Chargers will be shown exclusively on the Peacock Network, the first for NBC’s streaming option. That means, like the Amazon Prime games – of which the Bills have one, Week 8 against the Buccaneers – you will need a Peacock subscription to watch.

Prime time for Brian Daboll’s return

One of the primetime games at Highmark Stadium is the Week 6 homecoming for ex-Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as he brings his Giants to town to play on Sunday Night Football.

Daboll, who was raised by his grandparents in the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca and played football at the University of Rochester, led the Giants to the postseason in his first year as a head coach. Also back will be general manager Joe Schoen, who was Brandon Beane’s right-hand man for five years in Buffalo.

Two nice late-season road trips for fans

Last year, the Bills played the Rams in Los Angeles in Week 1, and then Miami in Week 3, and both games featured horrendously hot, humid September temperatures.

This year, the Bills are making return visits to both places, only they will be in Los Angeles to play the Chargers the week of Christmas, and then they close the season in South Florida on Jan. 7.

You would expect those would be two of the most popular road games for a fan base that always travels well.

Buffalo Bills 2023 schedule:

• Week 1: Monday, Sept . 11, at New York Jets, 8:15 p.m., ESPN/ABC

• Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 17, vs. Las Vegas Raiders, 1 p.m., CBS

• Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 24, at Washington Commanders, 1 p.m., CBS

• Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 1, vs. Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m., CBS

• Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 8, vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 9:30 a.m., NFL Network

• Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 15, vs. New York Giants, 8:20 p.m., NBC

• Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 22, at New England Patriots, 1 p.m., CBS

• Week 8: Thursday, Oct. 26, vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8:15 p.m., Prime Video

• Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 5, at Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 p.m., NBC

• Week 10: Monday, Nov. 13, vs. Denver Broncos, 8:15 p.m., ESPN

• Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 19, vs. New York Jets, 4:25 p.m., CBS

• Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 26, at Philadelphia Eagles, 4:25 p.m., CBS

• Week 13: Bye week

• Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 10, at Kansas City Chiefs, 4:25 p.m., CBS

• Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 17, vs. Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m., FOX

• Week 16: Saturday, Dec. 23, at Los Angeles Chargers, 8 p.m., Peacock

• Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 31, vs. New England Patriots, 1 p.m., CBS

• Week 18: Sunday, Jan. 7, at Miami Dolphins, TBD

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 5 things to know about the Buffalo Bills 2023 schedule