How Joe Brady Changed the Identity of the Buffalo Bills

The 2023 Buffalo Bills have been a Jägerbomb all season long.

After starting the season with a self-inflicted loss to the New York Jets, Buffalo seemed to pull itself together and string together three consecutive dominant performances against the Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders and Miami Dolphins, all while living in a world where they play at 200 miles per hour. This was an 80s hair metal band at the height of their popularity, thinking they would live forever and be able to maintain that style of play all season long.

Buffalo quickly learned they couldn’t play every week like they were in a Motley Crue music video. They lost four of their next six games, including a Monday night loss to the Denver Broncos that proved to be the final straw for Ken Dorsey. The Bills fired their second-year offensive coordinator and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, and from the start it was clear that something was changing — their identity.

Under Dorsey through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Bills were a strange offensive conundrum. They rarely took layups, opting instead for a more all-or-nothing style of play. Josh Allen led the NFL in attempts of 15 or more passing yards during that span with 75, according to Sports Info Solutions. Now, Allen being Allen, he also led the league in touchdowns and interceptions on those passes. Being the specimen that he is at quarterback, that’s the double-edged sword you live with if you’re the Bills. While the interceptions can sometimes be a bit much, you know Allen is going to make multiple plays in each game that other quarterbacks simply can’t make. And for the most part, it worked. From Week 1 through Week 10, the Bills were third in the NFL in EPA per play and first in completion rate.

So what happened?

In fact, the offense has suffered a setback in many ways. While it was still one of the best offenses in the NFL at moving the ball down the field and creating big plays, it became inconsistent and highly variable. From Weeks 5-10, Allen’s EPA per dropback dropped to 12th in the NFL, and he led the league in interceptions during that span. And again, many of those turnovers came on half-court field goal attempts when a layup was available. Of Allen’s seven interceptions during that span, five of them came on passes of 15 yards or more down the field. And while Allen is one of the best, if not the best deep-ball passer in the game today, you can’t succeed long-term if that’s the only offensive game plan.

That all changed pretty abruptly when Brady took over in Week 11. They shifted more toward the running game and became a more efficient passing attack that killed you with a thousand cuts rather than a cannonball to the face.

For starters, Brady saw how effective James Cook was during the first half of the season and also saw that Dorsey refused to use him as much as he should have. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Cook was 20th in the NFL in carries but 6th in yards. From Weeks 11-18, he was 10th in the league in carries and finished 4th in rushing yards.

Brady also changed his running philosophy to a more outside-the-door style. Under Dorsey, the Bills were 22nd in fast break attempts, outside zone attempts and stretch plays — they were third under Brady and sixth in yards on all three types of runs.

And while the Bills have had some success in containing Allen and using the deep ball, they have freed him up on the ground. He had 35 designed runs and seven touchdowns on designed runs under Brady — he had two touchdowns on 17 designed runs under Dorsey. Dorsey was clearly hesitant to use Allen as a runner while Brady leaned toward it. It also took a lot of pressure off the passing game. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Allen was second in the league in attempts with 350, but 15th in attempts with 229 under Brady.

Naturally, it also gave the Bills running backs more opportunities. Buffalo went from 17th in the league in points per running back under Dorsey to 7th under Brady. They passed the ball about 27 times per game to running backs under Brady, which is up from 19.5 times per game under Dorsey.

This increased use of running backs, particularly Cook, proved crucial for the Bills late in the season, as they won six of their last seven games en route to their fourth straight AFC East crown. Against the Dallas Cowboys, he rushed for 179 yards and added 42 through the air and two total touchdowns. On the road against the Kansas City Chiefs the previous week, he was the team’s leading receiver and had a touchdown reception. Overall, Cook had over 100 scrimmage yards in each of Brady’s first four games.

While the Bills have undergone a number of cosmetic changes on offense this offseason, including the Stefon Diggs trade, their offense has the personnel it needs to continue to be an efficient juggernaut. The Bills are entering a reset year, much like the Chiefs did in 2022 after the Tyreek Hill trade.

Cook will continue to be a factor, as will tight end Dalton Kincaid, who had a tremendous rookie season. And look at the receivers they acquired this offseason. Keon Coleman is a perfect addition to this new style of offense for Buffalo. He can win at the line of scrimmage and get that underlying separation to get to a lot of quick targets. Curtis Samuel is another guy who is very good after the catch. Chase Claypool, if used correctly, can be a physical power receiver. So while it may look different than the Bills we’ve seen in years past, there’s no need to worry about the quality of this offense.

The Bills have a good group of talented players, a good offensive coordinator, and most importantly, Josh Allen. With those three factors, they have the potential to be as good as any offense the team has put together since Allen was drafted in 2018. While there are still people who doubt the Bills, it would be foolhardy to do so. They will continue to be one of the NFL’s powerhouses, whether you like it or not.