Bills' schedule means much more mileage
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

The Buffalo Bills better like those seats in first class, because they'll be racking up the frequent flyer miles in 2008.

Thanks to a combination of playing against the AFC West and NFC West and hosting two "home" games in Toronto, the Bills will have one of their most spread out seasons in history. With just eight games slated for the home field at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo will travel 17,641 miles (air and land) to the other 12.

That's up from 9,972 miles in 2007 and 10,574 miles in 2006.

So will that extra time spent on a bus or plane affect the Bills?

"It can if you let it," answered defensive end Chris Kelsay. "But we'll prepare for it. I think the biggest thing is the change in time, making sure we get there early enough so we can get calibrated to the time zone. We've traveled out west before. Three years ago we played three west coast games, Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco. We went on a run there, and we were winning six games in a row. It can be an obstacle, but it can also be an opportunity at the same time."

Buffalo is generally one of the least-traveled teams each year. In 2007, the Bills ranked 31st out of the 32 teams in the league in mileage and were 29th in 2006.

West coast teams generally dominate the top of the frequent flyer list. And San Diego will easily clock in the most time on a plane this year, since it makes trips to Miami, Buffalo, London (to play New Orleans), Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. All told, the Chargers will rack up a ridiculous 33,516 miles this year.

San Diego ranked fourth in miles traveled in both 2007 (28,398) and 2006 (25,752).

Even with an 8,000-mile increase in travel this year, the Bills could have seen an even greater change. Buffalo's four furthest away opponents, Seattle, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco will make the trip to Western New York. That can only help the Bills.

"Any time you can have west coast teams travel to the east coast, it makes a huge difference," Kelsay said. "I'd much rather them come play us here than us go out there."

Since the NFLrealigned the league into eight divisions in 2002, this is the first time the Bills have played the AFC West and NFC West in the same season. The last time the Bills played against the AFC West was 2005. Buffalo played the NFC West in 2004.

Of course, the game receiving the most attention on Buffalo's schedule is that Dec. 7 contest against AFC East rival Miami at Toronto's Rogers Centre. This will be the first of five regular-season games played in Toronto over the next five years and is part of Buffalo's plan to spread its fan base further into Southern Ontario.

The biggest problem with hosting the Miami game in Toronto, which will be the first NFLgame played in Canada, is that it takes away the cold-weather advantage from the Bills. If the game were played at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the teams would most likely have to deal with the cold, swirling winds of the outdoor complex. You can bet the retractable dome will be closed for the game.

This has led to an outcry from fans that the game in Toronto should have been against a non-division opponent.

Third-year head coach Dick Jauron commented on the spread-out schedule and playing two games in Toronto, saying it was up to the team to deal with whatever circumstances the upcoming season throws at it.

Buffalo opens the season at home for the eighth time in nine years when the Bills host the Seattle Seahawks at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7.