The Buffalo Bills will begin the quest for a franchise-record fifth consecutive AFC East division championship with a good old fashioned Sunday, 1 p.m. start at Highmark Stadium.

The NFL schedule is finalized and the Bills will host the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 8. The Cardinals were one of the worst teams in the NFL in 2023 as they finished 4-13 under first-year coach Jonathan Gannon, so that feels like an easy launch to an otherwise tough four months to come.

While the Bills said goodbye to several big-name veterans in the offseason, most prominently Stefon Diggs, the Josh Allen factor overcomes that because the Bills, as of now, have five stand-alone games, meaning theirs is the only game being played in that time slot. That’s before any late-season flex scheduling changes.

Last year, the Bills’ original schedule featured seven stand-alone windows, six in prime-time and the 9:30 a.m. London game. Then an eighth occurred when the season finale against Miami which decided the AFC East title was moved to Sunday Night Football.

Also, for the second year in a row, the Bills will have the holidays off. In fact, their bye falls the week of Thanksgiving.

Buffalo Bills 2024 schedule: 5 things to know about formidable slate and prime-time games

By the strength of schedule metric, which is based on 2023 records meaning it’s pretty meaningless, the Bills have the sixth-toughest slate as their opponents had a cumulative record of 149-140, a .516 winning percentage.

There are seven games against 2023 playoff teams - Dolphins twice, Ravens, Texans, Chiefs, Lions and 49ers, and there are 11 games against teams that finished above .500 when you add in the Jaguars, Colts, Rams and Seahawks, with seven of those 11 on the road.

Here is the Bills 2024 schedule:

Here is the Buffalo Bills 2024 schedule

Preseason

Saturday, Aug. 10: vs. Chicago Bears, 1 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 17: at Pittsburgh Steelers, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 24: vs. Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m.

Regular season

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 8, vs. Arizona Cardinals, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 2: Thursday, Sept. 12, at Miami Dolphins, 8:15 p.m., Prime Video

Week 3: Monday, Sept. 23, vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 29, at Baltimore Ravens, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 6, at Houston Texans, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 6: Monday, Oct. 14, at New York Jets, 8:15 p.m., ESPN

Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 20, vs. Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 27, at Seattle Seahawks, 4:05 p.m., FOX

Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 3, vs. Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 10, at Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 10, vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 4:25 p.m., CBS

Week 12: Bye

Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 1, vs. San Francisco 49ers, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 8, at Los Angeles Rams, 4:25 p.m., FOX

Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 15, at Detroit Lions, 4:25 p.m., CBS

Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 22, vs. New England Patriots, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 29, vs. New York Jets, 1 p.m. CBS

Week 18: Date TBD, at New England Patriots, time and TV channel TBD

Playoffs

Wild Card games: Jan. 11-13

Divisional Playoff games: Jan. 18-19

Conference Championship games: Jan. 26

Super Bowl LIX, New Orleans, Louisiana: Feb. 9

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills schedule 2024: Complete dates, times for NFL season