ORCHARD PARK - Joe Brady has met with reporters three times since the gun sounded last Thursday night ending the Buffalo Bills’ 41-31 victory over the Detroit Lions, and in all the interactions, there has been a common theme that has cropped up in his comments.
He’s not satisfied with anything.
“We’ve got a lot to improve on,” Brady reiterated again Wednesday before hitting the practice field to begin preparations for Sunday’s game at Highmark Stadium against the reeling but still dangerous Los Angeles Chargers.
The 77 points have been great, Brady said, but there are still things to clean up on offense. The 62 points allowed on defense speaks for itself and the improvements that need to be made on that side of the ball. And on special teams, there’s
nothing too concerning yet, but of course it can always be better. Hey, Tyler Bass missed an extra point, right?
Joe Brady isn't changing his message at 2-0
“We knew two games wasn't going to define our season one way or the other,” Brady said. “Whether we’re 2-0, 0-2, 1-1, the growth that we need to see from Week 2 to Week 3, there has to be a lot of growth from it.”
One of the keys to the offensive explosion we’ve seen where the Bills have scored touchdowns on 10 of 18 possessions not including end of half kneel down scenarios has been Brady’s aggressiveness in the passing game. Not only is he calling more pass plays, he’s doing so more on early downs, and Josh Allen is pushing it downfield and biting off bigger chunks. It’s a departure from what we’ve seen since Brady first became the Bills’ play-caller midway through 2023.
Of course, Brady pushed back on the perceived difference in philosophy by saying, “I think every game is going to be different and we have to make sure we're still trying to figure out exactly what our identity is going to be. Early in the season, you're still figuring that out, and I'm in the process of still figuring out our team and our guys and what they need, how to call it, those type of things.”
OK, but the numbers are the numbers and they show that even though the Bills have been in the lead the vast majority of the first two games, Brady has called pass plays on 57.9% of the offensive snaps which is tied for 18th in the league, but way more than last year’s season-long rate of 54.1% which ranked 30th.
Additionally, those throws have been further down the field. Last year, Allen’s average depth of target was 7.6 yards which ranked 12th among the 13 QBs with at least 550 dropbacks. In two games this year, it’s 10.5 which is fourth-highest among the 41 quarterbacks who have taken a snap thus far. His nine completions of at least 20 yards is tied for third.
D.J. Moore is key to attacking downfield more often
The presence of WR DJ Moore is a key reason for this downfield approach because he has speed on the outside that must be respected which opens other avenues because he draws coverage his way. But when he left in the second quarter of the Detroit game with a shoulder injury, there was a clear change. Brady denied that, but Allen reverted more to a short passing game and his depth of target dropped to less than half what it was during the six quarters Moore has played.
“The average depth of target is never important to me,” Brady said. “It's about Josh, and if the opportunity is there, being able to take advantage of it, and when we have those, cashing in on them, right? A long incompletion doesn't do much either. So I don't think it had anything to do with hey, DJ's out of the game, now we can't push the ball. Two of our most explosive plays this year have been to Josh Palmer down the field. I don't think there is any correlation with that.”
Moore was on the practice field Wednesday, though his availability for Los Angeles is uncertain. The Chargers have been excellent against the run, leading the NFL with a mere 2.7 yards allowed per attempt including just three runs of 10 yards or more. If they contain James Cook, the Bills should get back to pushing the ball down the field, even if Moore can’t play.
That’s because similarly to Buffalo’s defense, the Chargers have struggled stopping the pass as they allowed Arizona’s Jacoby Brissett to complete 27 of 37 for 277 yards, and Las Vegas’ Kirk Cousins went 19 of 29 for 253 yards, in part because of busted coverages but also a lack of pressure. The Chargers rank 21st in pressure rate at 35.2% and have recorded only three sacks totaling five yards in losses and one interception.
It’s a situation ripe for tight end Dalton Kincaid to exploit. Of the 11 tight ends who have been targeted at least 10 times, Kincaid ranks No. 1 in yards per catch (18.8), receiving yards (225) and average depth of target (12.9).
“I've never tried to put expectations on any players,” Brady said of Kincaid’s down the field emergence thus far. “You get the opportunities, you make the most of the opportunities, and the more opportunities are gonna come your way. Opportunities have gone his way and he's made the most of them, different type of matchups on corners, on safeties. We'll see how teams are gonna adjust to us.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: The Bills have 77 points in two games and Joe Brady still wants more
