The NFL made an unfortunate mistake with the Buffalo Bills' 2024 schedule

The NFL made an unfortunate mistake with the Buffalo Bills' schedule in 2024 and it's too late to fix it now that the entire NFL schedule has been revealed. 

For some reason, the NFL scheduled the Bills' matchup against the Houston Texans in Week 5 for a 1:00 PM ET kickoff time. 

How is that not a nationally televised primetime game? 

This is easily one the most anticipated games of the season. For starters, it will be the first time that Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs plays against the Bills after getting traded by Buffalo earlier this offseason. That alone makes this game a must-watch (even for folks that aren't fans of either team). 

Secondly, with Houston quarterback CJ Stroud's emergence as one of the top young quarterbacks in the game, the matchup between him and Bills quarterback Josh Allen could be a preview of an AFC playoff showdown (and it's an exciting matchup we should see quite a few times in the coming years). 

This isn't a game that should be relegated to a random 1:00 PM ET kickoff time where it'll get lost in the shuffle. It should be a primetime matchup. And the NFL had an easy path to fitting this game into a primetime slot. 

In Week 5, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons play on Thursday night. That's an unexciting matchup that's perfect for a Thursday night. I'm just fine with the Bills/Texans not sliding into that slot. 

The Sunday night matchup that week is between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I can certainly understand the NFL wanting that game in primetime on a Sunday night. That's a matchup with plenty of history that will bring in a large amount of viewers. 

On Monday night in Week 5, the NFL has the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the New Orleans Saints on ESPN. 

That's where the Bills/Texans game should be. The Chiefs/Saints game, which doesn't have a unique storyline attached to it, should be the random 1:00 PM ET game while the Bills/Texans get primetime treatment on ESPN. 

This is a scheduling miss by the NFL. And it's unfortunate, because a matchup between the Bills and the Texans is significantly more compelling than a matchup between the Chiefs and the Saints.