Bills' future schedule makes Denver game near must-win

The Buffalo Bills enter Monday night's game against the Denver Broncos on the outside of the AFC playoff picture. That alone is a pretty shocking development 10 weeks into the season, but things could really start to get tense for the Bills if they are not able to get a win on Monday.

Not only would that drop them 5-5 in the standings, placing them into the bubble category with other 5-5 teams like the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders, it would also put them in a very precarious position given the remaining schedule that is awaiting them over the next few weeks.

The Bills play one of the NFL's toughest remaining schedules, and it is entirely due to the four week stretch that is awaiting them after Monday.

Following the Broncos, the Bills will play a New York Jets team next week that already beat them this season (and boasts one of the league's best defenses), before a three-game stretch that includes road games at Philadelphia and Kansas City and a home game against Dallas.

That is going to be one of the most daunting stretches of games any team in the NFL will face this season, and if Buffalo goes into that with a 5-5 record their playoff chances are going to take a massive hit. 

That puts an added emphasis on Monday's game against Denver because that is one of the last teams Buffalo plays that has a losing record. Beating the Broncos would give the Bills some built in cushion for that upcoming stretch of games and make it so that a loss or two in those games would not be quite as damaging. But if they fail to take care of business against a 3-5 Broncos team, at home, it will be time to not only start asking valid questions as to how good this Bills team actually is, but whether or not it will even be a playoff team.

The Bills' biggest problem this season has been consistency, especially on offense.

They have had games where quarterback Josh Allen looks like one of the best passers in the league and is leading a Super Bowl caliber offense. But for every game where that has happened, they have had another game where Allen and the offense look completely disjointed and can not protect the football.

That sort of volatility has put the Bills into a tough spot and it is not going to get any easier over the next month-and-a-half.