Joe Brady has changed the season's expectations

[ganesh]

On 9/25/2024 at 5:49 AM, gonzo1105 said:

I disagreed strongly with the vast majority of the board who thought the Bills were not a SB contender esp after the injuries started piling up. As long as Allen is here we will always have a shot. This team is getting younger and more athletic and will continue to do so in the next year or two with a plethora of draft picks and money coming off the books 

Allen is the key to this engine.  Everyone plays the "spare parts" role...Go Bills !!!

[LABILLBACKER]

54 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Allen is the key to this engine.  Everyone plays the "spare parts" role...Go Bills !!!

I love the idea that everyone eats. Even if they're not deemed an elite receiver.  You're going to see Shakir & Kincaid elevate their game. You're already seeing Josh 100% buy in to the structure of this new "Brady" offense. Now all we need is a dynamic speed wr to fall in our laps next draft, to compliment Coleman,  Samuel & Hollins. Cook minimizes the drops and they'll be no stopping this offense. 

[machine gun kelly]

On 9/24/2024 at 8:14 PM, Inigo Montoya said:

Every year before the season starts my wife who is a Bills fan by marriage, and causal football fan overall, asks me if the Bills are going to be good this year.  She has suffered through more "husband in a bad mood Sundays" than she should have in the 27 years we've been married.

 

I told her I didn't think the Bills would do great this year, we might make the playoffs, but I didn't think it could be a Super Bowl year.   We were getting our salary cap straight and hopefully Beane was setting the table to start a new run the next few seasons with a younger roster and room to maneuver in the free agency.

 

Through the first three weeks it looks like I was wrong.  I think if they keep winning, the urgency for them to win a Super Bowl this year increases exponentially for one reason, Joe Brady. 

 

If the Bills make a deep playoff run, Joe Brady will be a head coach next season.  We will have one year with him here to get over the hump.  I'm not an X's & O's guy but its clear that Brady has designed an offense that is bringing out the best in Josh, can score a lot of points, and win in different ways.  Josh has easy reads, wide open receivers, and a creative and effective running game to support him.  It looks more like an Andy Reid offense than anything we've fielded since Josh arrived.  Teams hoping to find their franchise QB in next year's draft will be lining up to hire Brady. 

 

After the first three games I have a different outlook, I think this is a team that can make a run and win a Super Bowl.  I also think we better get it done this year because the Brady/Allen collaboration is almost certainly going to be a one and done.

Virg, I agree with almost everything other than his promotion to HC next year.  It’s possible, but he’ll make a stronger case for a decent team in two years.

 

McD had the perfect storm as he had talent entering 2017, but had to build a team, get rid of bloated contracts, and restart.  He did that in 2018, it started to bear results in 2019 and beyond.

 

If Brady is smart, he won’t be desperate and take a Panthers type job.  A team like the Bears if they remove their coach eventually, has a lot of talent, and can be a build up into something great.  That’s just one example.  I’m sure there are others.  Why not be picky and choose a talented team underperforming.

 

it may be wishful thinking, but he’s young and smart.  McD took our job as he s smart and a team builder.  He aligned with Beane and what they built was so impressive.  That’s why I shrug off the “it’s his last year talk”.  I’m constantly reminded of the drought with these conversations.  People just don’t remember how horrible it was for 17 years.  It was a nightmare over and over again with no hope of success anytime soon.

[davefan66]

On 9/25/2024 at 9:57 AM, Logic said:

I love what Brady is doing so far. He has surpassed my expectations, and I love the the plays he draws up, the way he calls games in the moment, and the way he uses his players to his strengths. All indications are that he's also a good listener, good collaborator, and high character person.

I'll admit I've fallen victim to the "he'll be gone after a year or two anyway" talk, BUT...

I would be remiss not to mention this: Let's see how he does as defenses start to get more tape on what he likes to do. Many coordinators start out hot and then once opponents get some idea of what they like doing and how to defend it, they have no counter-punch. Heck, even Ken Dorsey's first few games as full time Bills offensive coordinator had the team looking pretty sharp and putting up points. Then opposing defenses caught up, and he never countered in his remaining time here.

I think Brady is brighter and better at calling offense than Dorsey, and I have faith that he WILL have some counter-punches, particularly since his offense is so multiple and seems to be able to beat you in a myriad of ways. Still, until he proves that his offense is here to stay, I fear the "somebody will poach him" talk is premature.

To wit: Here's a thread from October 1st last year, posted coming off of 37, 38, and 48 point performances from the offense.
 

 

Fair points.

 

It will be interesting these next 3 games to see how much this offense has evolved. I feel we are in a much better place with this years offense than in the past.

 

Brady did a great job game planning and prepping the guys for the Jags. Used motion to force mismatches and create good yardage.  Different from Dorsey who seemed to rely more on Josh’s physical ability to run, and get the ball in tight spots. Sunday night Josh just needed to play within the game plan and guys were open quite a bit. Played a great game, but didn’t need to be a superhero.

 

Just needs to keep creating good game plans moving forward.

[ganesh]

46 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Virg, I agree with almost everything other than his promotion to HC next year.  It’s possible, but he’ll make a stronger case for a decent team in two years.

 

McD had the perfect storm as he had talent entering 2017, but had to build a team, get rid of bloated contracts, and restart.  He did that in 2018, it started to bear results in 2019 and beyond.

 

If Brady is smart, he won’t be desperate and take a Panthers type job.  A team like the Bears if they remove their coach eventually, has a lot of talent, and can be a build up into something great.  That’s just one example.  I’m sure there are others.  Why not be picky and choose a talented team underperforming.

 

it may be wishful thinking, but he’s young and smart.  McD took our job as he s smart and a team builder.  He aligned with Beane and what they built was so impressive.  That’s why I shrug off the “it’s his last year talk”.  I’m constantly reminded of the drought with these conversations.  People just don’t remember how horrible it was for 17 years.  It was a nightmare over and over again with no hope of success anytime soon.

The common thread in 17 years was not necessarily bad coaches....We did have decent to better than decent HC....Problem was we did NOT have a Franchise QB.....until #17 came to Buffalo.  

 

Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Doug Maronne, Rex Ryan,  Mike Mularkey were all good HCs.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, ganesh said:

The common thread in 17 years was not necessarily bad coaches....We did have decent to better than decent HC....Problem was we did NOT have a Franchise QB.....until #17 came to Buffalo.  

 

Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Doug Maronne, Rex Ryan,  Mike Mularkey were all good HCs.

 

No. They weren't. 

[BigDingus]

I really hope you're right.

 

I can't shake this feeling that the coming 3 game road stretch might knock us back to reality. I just really want to beat the Ravens & Texans!

 

Oh, and please stay healthy. PLEASE!

[GunnerBill]

27 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

I really hope you're right.

 

I can't shake this feeling that the coming 3 game road stretch might knock us back to reality. I just really want to beat the Ravens & Texans!

 

Oh, and please stay healthy. PLEASE!

 

We will beat Baltimore. I am very confident for Sunday. The Ravens are more Lamar dependent right now than the Bills are Allen depenedent (imagine saying that two years ago) and history tells me McDermott and co are pretty good at holding Lamar in check. 

[Chaos]

On 9/24/2024 at 8:14 PM, Inigo Montoya said:

Every year before the season starts my wife who is a Bills fan by marriage, and causal football fan overall, asks me if the Bills are going to be good this year.  She has suffered through more "husband in a bad mood Sundays" than she should have in the 27 years we've been married.

 

I told her I didn't think the Bills would do great this year, we might make the playoffs, but I didn't think it could be a Super Bowl year.   We were getting our salary cap straight and hopefully Beane was setting the table to start a new run the next few seasons with a younger roster and room to maneuver in the free agency.

 

Through the first three weeks it looks like I was wrong.  I think if they keep winning, the urgency for them to win a Super Bowl this year increases exponentially for one reason, Joe Brady. 

 

If the Bills make a deep playoff run, Joe Brady will be a head coach next season.  We will have one year with him here to get over the hump.  I'm not an X's & O's guy but its clear that Brady has designed an offense that is bringing out the best in Josh, can score a lot of points, and win in different ways.  Josh has easy reads, wide open receivers, and a creative and effective running game to support him.  It looks more like an Andy Reid offense than anything we've fielded since Josh arrived.  Teams hoping to find their franchise QB in next year's draft will be lining up to hire Brady. 

 

After the first three games I have a different outlook, I think this is a team that can make a run and win a Super Bowl.  I also think we better get it done this year because the Brady/Allen collaboration is almost certainly going to be a one and done.

My expectations have not changed. I did not buy into the Dolphins were magically better narrative. I did not buy into the Jets with a 40 year old QB and a coach who never played in a playoff game were now super bowl contenders. I expected the Bills to have a fairly easy run to the AFCE title.  Still do.  

Bills have had a great start to the season.  No one could ask for more. At this point though, we don't really have evidence they will go further in the playoffs this year than in the past. Playoff football is a different beast.  So my post season expectation is the same. Wait and see. 

[stuvian]

Brady's run first offense will cut our turnovers in half and that may be enough to put us over the top with a little help from Rousseau and friends

[Nick the Greek]

Daboll will probably get fired after this season. Just bring him back. He was great with Josh. 

[Saxum]

7 minutes ago, Nick the Greek said:

Daboll will probably get fired after this season. Just bring him back. He was great with Josh. 

 

Daboll would be better at Senior Offensive Assistant working on schemes rather than OC.

[Rocky Landing]

5 hours ago, Nick the Greek said:

Daboll will probably get fired after this season. Just bring him back. He was great with Josh. 

After watching TNF last night, I'd say Daboll has done pretty well to keep them in that game with Danny Dimes at QB.

[billsfan89]

13 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

No. They weren't. 

Not sure why people are romanticizing drought era coaches. They were all either mediocre to bad. 

[GunnerBill]

17 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

Not sure why people are romanticizing drought era coaches. They were all either mediocre to bad. 

 

They all had elements that you could latch onto but they all had major flaws and weaknesses too. Rex was lazy and outdated. Marrone was a micro manager and an ass of a personality. Gailey had zero clue about defense. Jauron was cautious to a fault and Mularkey had no grasp of detail.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 9/25/2024 at 12:15 AM, NickelCity said:

Brady significantly changed the way we play offense (small sample size acknowledged). I think it's a huge development and could mean another level for Allen that I didn't think existed. 

Exactly. Let’s see how Brady does in the playoffs. That’s the only way to get an accurate assessment. 

[ganesh]

11 hours ago, stuvian said:

Brady's run first offense will cut our turnovers in half and that may be enough to put us over the top with a little help from Rousseau and friends

That pass rush is needed in the playoffs to take down Mahomes or Lamar 

[Saxum]

27 minutes ago, ganesh said:

That pass rush is needed in the playoffs to take down Mahomes or Lamar 

 

Pass rush is not needed to take down Lamar  - contain him in pocket making him a one dimensional QB is key.

Edited September 28 by Saxum
typo

[L Ron Burgundy]

I said this before but for me the biggest difference is Joe schemes guys open.  Aka having great offensive creativity.

 

Josh had very few easy plays last year.  

[Sierra Foothills]

On 9/24/2024 at 5:14 PM, Inigo Montoya said:

Every year before the season starts my wife who is a Bills fan by marriage, and causal football fan overall, asks me if the Bills are going to be good this year.  She has suffered through more "husband in a bad mood Sundays" than she should have in the 27 years we've been married.

 

I told her I didn't think the Bills would do great this year, we might make the playoffs, but I didn't think it could be a Super Bowl year.   We were getting our salary cap straight and hopefully Beane was setting the table to start a new run the next few seasons with a younger roster and room to maneuver in the free agency.

 

Through the first three weeks it looks like I was wrong.  I think if they keep winning, the urgency for them to win a Super Bowl this year increases exponentially for one reason, Joe Brady. 

 

If the Bills make a deep playoff run, Joe Brady will be a head coach next season.  We will have one year with him here to get over the hump.  I'm not an X's & O's guy but its clear that Brady has designed an offense that is bringing out the best in Josh, can score a lot of points, and win in different ways.  Josh has easy reads, wide open receivers, and a creative and effective running game to support him.  It looks more like an Andy Reid offense than anything we've fielded since Josh arrived.  Teams hoping to find their franchise QB in next year's draft will be lining up to hire Brady. 

 

After the first three games I have a different outlook, I think this is a team that can make a run and win a Super Bowl.  I also think we better get it done this year because the Brady/Allen collaboration is almost certainly going to be a one and done.

 

On 9/24/2024 at 5:35 PM, CincyBillsFan said:

I suspect that Brady won't be to quick to take a head coaching job unless it' the perfect spot.  He was promoted from college to be an NFL OC way to quickly and he wasn't ready.  He suffered through getting thrown under the bus and has to consider himself lucky to have landed with Buffalo.  I doubt he makes the same mistake again. 

 

On 9/24/2024 at 5:36 PM, DCofNC said:

This is the problem with a defensive coach and a superstar QB.

 

On 9/25/2024 at 6:47 AM, Low Positive said:

There is no way that Mike Brown fires Zac Taylor. This is for two reasons. First of all, Mike Brown won't pay people to not work for him. He's actually said this. Also, he is loyal to a fault. Remember, he kept Marvin Lewis for 15 YEARS and Taylor took them to a Superbowl. Zac Taylor is HC in Cincinnati until either Mike Brown dies or he quits. He's not cheap. He's relatively poor for an NFL owner. He doesn't have the cash to pay signing bonuses. 

 

On 9/25/2024 at 6:50 AM, uninja said:

I'm just not that sure this is as attractive as you think it might be. Sure he gets back with Joe Burrow and a lot of cast from LSU but it's not like the situation in Cinn is that great. Ownership is cheap and they're already casting off their defensive picks to make room for Burrow's contract (which hasn't even started yet) and they haven't even paid Chase yet. I just don't know that Brady will want to go to a franchise that doesn't seem that serious about winning, sure Burrow makes them relevant and they had some great players to achieve success but to sustain it you need a great organization behind it and man the Bengals just ain't it.

 

On 9/25/2024 at 6:57 AM, Logic said:

I love what Brady is doing so far. He has surpassed my expectations, and I love the the plays he draws up, the way he calls games in the moment, and the way he uses his players to his strengths. All indications are that he's also a good listener, good collaborator, and high character person. I'll admit I've fallen victim to the "he'll be gone after a year or two anyway" talk, BUT...

I would be remiss not to mention this: Let's see how he does as defenses start to get more tape on what he likes to do. Many coordinators start out hot and then once opponents get some idea of what they like doing and how to defend it, they have no counter-punch. Heck, even Ken Dorsey's first few games as full time Bills offensive coordinator had the team looking pretty sharp and putting up points. Then opposing defenses caught up, and he never countered in his remaining time here.

I think Brady is brighter and better at calling offense than Dorsey, and I have faith that he WILL have some counter-punches, particularly since his offense is so multiple and seems to be able to beat you in a myriad of ways. Still, until he proves that his offense is here to stay, I fear the "somebody will poach him" talk is premature.

To wit: Here's a thread from October 1st last year, posted coming off of 37, 38, and 48 point performances from the offense.
 

 

 

On 9/25/2024 at 8:04 AM, RoscoeParrish said:

I don’t think Brady is one and done. That’s pretty rare.
 

Brian Daboll was credited with turning Josh into a franchise QB from a raw prospect. He was the OC for the Bills during 3 separate playoff runs, including a trip to the AFCCG.

 

Josh played like an MVP for two full seasons before Daboll left.

 

Bobby Slowik had a great year with Stroud, but he didn’t go anywhere.

 

Ben Johnson has been in Detroit for a few years and while he has had offers, he’s still with the Lions.

 

For whatever reason, most NFL teams don’t hand the keys to one year OC’s. 
 

We have two years with Brady, imo.

 

On 9/25/2024 at 9:16 PM, Big Blitz said:

I’m rethinking as the game is changing.  
 

You’re going to see a dramatic slowdown in OCs being favored to get these jobs.  
 

Especially the teams with established QBs.  
 

Defense is back.  And teams need leaders of men to handle guys that just made millions playing college football and can still develop the way the Bills and others have.  
 

Right now, only Kevin O’Connell is making it work - and guess what he did.  Brought in an elite DC.  

 

DCs or known Leaders of men or both

Chargers

Seattle 

Texans 

Washington 

Patriots 

Raiders 

Steelers keep winning

Baltimore keeps winning 

We keep winning 

Jets are winning, for now

Tampa - Bowles 

Arizona- Gannon 

Detroit - Campbell is an offensive guy but unquestionably a leader of men

 

Chicago - stuck with Eberflus management drafted the wrong QB but we’ll be talking more about that later.  It’s Williams.  Not the OC.  The GM botched all this.  
 

OC head guys still getting it done:

Reid, obviously 

McVay 

Shanny (is he?)

LaFleur

 

Currently falling apart:

Miami 

Cincy 

Jacksonville 

Dallas

Tennessee - Levis is bad 

Colts - Richardson is worse 

Browns - Watson is a disaster; defense carried them in 2023 Flacco my rear end 

 

Worth noting:

Ben Johnson - that O doesn’t look as good

Slowik - same as Detroit   

Jury still out:

Canalas 

 

If Brady and other OCs or DCs are smart they don’t have to take the first job.  Which in 2025 in order could be: 

 

Jacksonville 

Giants 

Jets 

Philly 

Chicago 

Cleveland

Arizona 

Dallas 

 

Which one is most appealing?  Which one would want Brady?  Chicago?  Is he a fit with Caleb?  Philly?  Dallas?  
 

More importantly are those teams going to hand it over to a first time coach to fix their current messes.  

 

Brilliant discussion. Great read.

 

Edited September 29 by Sierra Foothills