Can Joe Brady’s Bills Finally Get Josh Allen Over the Hump?

The Bills fired Sean McDermott after nine years at the helm following another playoff exit, this time a Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos where Allen committed several costly turnovers in a narrow road defeat. Buffalo’s response was to promote from within, elevating offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach.

It’s worth sitting with that decision for a second. Brady is the guy who called the offense that just lost. Now he’s the guy running the whole show.

Why Brady Makes Sense, On Paper

Allen won league MVP under Brady’s offense, and the continuity argument has real merit. Brady knows Allen’s strengths intimately, and the staff isn’t starting from scratch on scheme or relationships. Allen himself called it a “lot of new” this offseason, new stadium, new coach, new faces across the roster, but he’s framed it as an opportunity rather than a disruption.

The flip side is obvious too. Brady has never been a head coach before. There’s a real difference between calling plays and running an entire organization, managing a locker room, handling in-game situations beyond your own unit, and being the final voice in the building. McDermott had nine years of head coaching experience and still couldn’t get this team over the hump. There’s no guarantee that experience translates from coordinator to head coach, especially not in year one.

But the Real Question Might Be the Supporting Cast

Here’s what I keep coming back to. Everyone wants to put this on Allen’s shoulders, fair or not, every time Buffalo comes up short in January. But does this team actually have enough around him to get over the hump consistently, or have the Bills just been compensating for real roster gaps with Allen’s individual brilliance year after year?

This offseason gives us a real answer to that question, because Buffalo made a genuine effort to fix it.

The receiver room got a legitimate upgrade. Buffalo traded a second-round pick to Chicago for D.J. Moore, giving Allen a true veteran X-receiver for the first time since the Stefon Diggs era. Moore has produced at a high level for eight straight years and has a prior relationship with Brady from their time together in Carolina. That familiarity should help. Moore admitted to some “growing pains” during the spring but said he expects to hit his stride once the real games start.

There’s added pressure on Moore beyond just his own production, though. Keon Coleman enters year three under a microscope after owner Terry Pegula publicly called him out in January. Coleman has the physical tools but has yet to put it together consistently. Moore is being counted on to mentor and elevate him alongside his own role as the clear WR1. If that mentorship clicks, Brady’s first year gets a lot more interesting. If it doesn’t, the receiver room still has real questions behind Moore and Khalil Shakir.

The offensive line got attention too. Buffalo retained center Connor McGovern on a four-year deal, keeping four of five starters from the past two seasons in place. The key competition heading into camp is at left guard, where David Edwards departed for New Orleans. Incumbent Alec Anderson, an undrafted player who has worked his way into the starting conversation over the past two seasons, is the frontrunner. But veteran Austin Corbett, a Super Bowl champion with the Rams who brings 78 career starts and experience at both guard and center, will push him hard. That battle will be one of the more closely watched position fights at St. John Fisher this summer.

The Pass Rush Problem

Defensively, the Bills brought in new coordinator Jim Leonhard, who is shifting the unit to a 3-4 scheme. Leonhard’s track record matters here. He was part of a Denver Broncos defense last season that recorded a league-high 68 sacks. Buffalo ranked just 20th in sacks in 2025, with Greg Rousseau leading the team with just seven. Joey Bosa appears closer to retirement than a return at this point.

The Bills added Bradley Chubb in free agency to help address that gap. Chubb is coming off a solid bounce-back season from his torn ACL, logging 8.5 sacks for the Dolphins in 2025 and playing a full slate of games for the first time since his rookie year. He’ll be paired with second-round pick T.J. Parker and are expected to anchor a pass rush that desperately needs to be better than it was a year ago. Chubb has said he’s never been hungrier. Buffalo needs him to back that up.

What This Means

Put it together and this looks like the most complete roster the Bills have built around Allen in years. The receiving corps has real depth and a true WR1 for the first time in a while. The offensive line is largely intact with one legitimate position battle to settle. The defense has a new scheme and a coordinator who got real results last year.

That doesn’t guarantee anything. Brady is unproven as a head coach, and the AFC East and the conference at large remain difficult. But if this team falls short again, it’s going to be much harder to point at the supporting cast as the reason. Buffalo gave Allen the tools. Now it’s on Brady, and on Allen, to finally finish the job.

Training camp opens July 29 at St. John Fisher University in Rochester. The Joe Brady era begins in earnest there. Whether 2026 is finally the year will say a lot about Brady as a first-time head coach and even more about whether this supporting cast can hold up when it matters most.

The goal hasn’t changed. As Allen put it himself, it’s still about bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Western New York.