ORCHARD PARK, NY − It would be premature to coronate the Buffalo Bills, a team that hasn’t been fitted for a crown since it won the American Football League title in 1964 and ’65, the two seasons that predated the Super Bowl era.
But after an impressive 2-0 start over playoff-caliber teams like the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions, it sure feels like the 2026 Bills are better positioned than maybe they’ve ever been to capture the franchise’s long-awaited first Lombardi Trophy.
“It was awesome,” quarterback Josh Allen said of Thursday night’s 41-31 defeat of the Lions in Buffalo’s first official game in the new Highmark Stadium.
And the Bills look equally awesome with two wins and 77 points through two weeks, with Allen producing at a historic clip
and already responsible for nine touchdowns.
“That quarterback makes things very difficult,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said following the loss.
Yet Allen may only be a microcosm of a team that appears on the verge of making things very difficult for the entire league – and maybe right up until the final gun of Super Bowl 61.
Here are five reasons that a championship breakthrough might finally be at hand in Western New York:
1. ‘Best quarterback since Elway’
It’s no secret that Allen is among the NFL’s best players, arguably topping the list. Perhaps more critical to his team’s success than anyone else in the league, Allen has already won one MVP award and is pointed directly at a second through two games.
But just how spectacular is he from a historical context? According to one Buffalo legend, Allen is generational.
“Josh is winning a playoff game every single year – and I’ll tell you what, he’s the reason. He’s unbelievable. He’s the best quarterback since John Elway,” Steve Tasker, perhaps the best special teams player in NFL history and a member of the Buffalo teams that reached an unprecedented four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s, told USA TODAY Sports.
“Josh is all of it. Huge arm, can run, really smart. He’s everything in a nutshell. He’s just the right guy at the right time in the right city.”
That was certainly true of Elway, the Denver legend who led the Broncos to five Super Bowls appearances. Of course, Bills Mafia is certainly hopeful Allen won’t have to wait until the final two seasons of his career, as Elway did, to capture the first two rings in Bills history. But, per Tasker, it’s not Allen who needs to raise his level.
“They don’t need anything more out of Josh – he’s scored more touchdowns than anybody in the frickin’ history of the league,” said Tasker, only slightly exaggerating … though Allen has accounted for 300 touchdowns more quickly than anyone in NFL history.
New benchmark: Josh Allen reaches 300 combined touchdowns faster than any QB in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/KsZyZqMeXM
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) September 16, 2026
Thursday, he also became the first player in league history with multiple passing touchdowns and multiple rushing touchdowns in each of his team’s first two games of a season.
“He is the best player in football,” tight end Dalton Kincaid told ESPN after Buffalo’s takedown of Detroit on Thursday night.
Yet Allen’s intangible value is equally important to the organization.
“He’s so relatable. He’s bigger than life to some people,” Bills GM Brandon Beane told USA TODAY Sports recently. “But in here, he’s gonna treat you, his teammates, anyone, like he’s an average joe – he’s no different than you. I think that’s why his teammates – when he speaks or does something – they follow. He’s a competitor, he’s not gonna hide.
“He’s a driven dude. He’s always thrived on being overlooked.”
Given Allen’s fire, motivation, production and leadership – not to mention the sustained continuity he and head coach Joe Brady, who’d served as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator since the 2023 season, share – the Bills are, almost inarguably, better set behind center than any other team. They just need to support No. 17 lest he try to do too much, as was the case in last season’s narrow playoff loss to the Broncos.
“He would tell you, when you lose those games – the further you go, the worse it hurts when you lose,” Beane said of Allen. “When you get those scars, you don’t want to waste them. You want to use them and the fire, the burning desire to accomplish what is very hard to do.”
2. Joe Brady is the right guy at the right time
Bills owner Terry Pegula made the shocking decision to fire longtime coach Sean McDermott in January. McDermott had revived a once-dormant franchise, leading Buffalo to the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons … but never to the promised land.
After a lengthy interview process to identify McDermott’s successor, Pegula and Beane landed on promoting Brady from his offensive coordinator role – a decision that so far seems inspired and embraced internally.
"He's a real human who guys can get behind and play for," Allen said after Brady was elevated.
A relentless worker affiliated with explosive attacks throughout most of his career, Brady, who ripped off his first in the locker room after the Week 1 win at Houston, has also fostered a more relaxed environment. At times, particularly in postseason, the Bills often seemed as tightly wrapped as McDermott often did, the former coach often criticized by fans for his typically conservative style and game management.
Brady, already the first coach in the history of the Bills to start his career 2-0, will have to truly differentiate himself four months from now to justify Pegula’s pivot. But, for now, his honeymoon phase shows no signs of abating.
“One thing I think Joe has done a nice job of – we’re not throwing everything out, there’s a lot of great things that we’ve done here, but we’re also not running it back," Beane said.
“The energy is very good. … The cake’s still being baked.”
3. DJ Moore’s cascading effect on offense
Buffalo has had a top-10 offense every season since 2020 and never ranked worse than sixth in points scored over that stretch, Allen lording over all of it. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t room for improvement – particularly in the passing game, which had lacked a bona fide No. 1 receiver since Stefon Diggs was traded following the 2023 campaign.
Enter DJ Moore, who was acquired from the Chicago Bears for a second-round pick in March. Apparently not a snug fit in Ben Johnson’s offense, Moore – he can not only get deep but can take a short pass the distance given his explosiveness and quasi-running back elusiveness and power – seems ideal in Buffalo’s attack.
“Their offense doesn’t need to be tinkered with, but better players make you better, no question,” Tasker said. “DJ Moore is a better player, he’s an upgrade.”
And it’s not just Moore’s ability that is literally a game changer. His ability to dictate coverage allows fellow wideout Khalil Shakir, Allen’s top target in 2024 and ’25, to slide to a more appropriate secondary role. Coming off disappointing campaigns a year ago, receivers Keon Coleman and Josh Palmer also looked revitalized in training camp, and that’s largely carried over to the games – Palmer gathering in deep-strike TDs from Allen in each so far, including the game-winner at Houston in Week 1. Lastly, ight ends Kincaid and Dawson Knox also have more room to operate.
“What he does for our offense,” Allen said of Moore, “you can’t really measure it.”
Moore, who caught five passes for 100 yards and a TD in his Buffalo debut, injured a shoulder Thursday night and didn’t return to the game. And while the Bills will miss the obvious impact he’s made for however long he might be out, they should be able to weather his absence in the near term given the other players’ familiarity with the system.
4. A new-look defense
While McDermott’s defense ranked seventh overall in 2025 and finished top 10 in six of his nine seasons, it also came up short all too often in high-leverage situations. A 27-10 loss at home to the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 playoffs. The season-ending 33-30 loss at Denver earlier this year. And, of course, the four postseason defeats at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs, perhaps none more painful than the 42-36 come-from-ahead meltdown at Arrowhead Stadium in the 2021 postseason.
Enter Jim Leonhard, who played four of his 10 NFL seasons as a safety in Buffalo before entering coaching. Now the Bills' coordinator, Leonhard has been associated with aggressive, attacking defenses over the years, including Denver’s in 2025 – though his calm demeanor belies the chaos he’s likely to scheme up as his philosophy takes root.
“Jim is like a calming, confident force,” Beane said. “He doesn’t try to be braggadocious. You wouldn’t even know he played. The guys really thrive on him.”
Confident and relatable but also realistic, Leonhard has suggested it will take two years to fully readjust Buffalo’s D to his vision. But it was sufficiently calibrated in Week 1 to force the turnover that sealed the win. And despite surrendering 31 points to Detroit, the Lions were effectively out of the game before halftime before racking up empty-calorie yards and points.
5. New Highmark Stadium
It’s a lot fancier than its now-leveled predecessor across the street.
“There’s some really nice stadiums, and I don’t think I’ve walked into one nicer. It’s very intentional about things,” Beane said.
Meticulous thought was given to aspects like the locker room, the tunnels, cafeteria, sauna, even hydrotherapy. The canopy that covers most of the seats could create a reverberating cacophony that approximates – and maybe exceeds – the noise at the Seattle Seahawks’ renowned Lumen Field.
Above all, Pegula’s commitment to installing a grass playing surface has been a huge hit among the players.
"This is like being on the inside of a Rolls-Royce, man,” left tackle Dion Dawkins told NFL Network after Buffalo’s preseason opener.
“Across the street was the old Papa Joe's pickup truck, man, and that is gone."
So, too, might Buffalo’s six-decade drought in search of a Lombardi if the Bills’ new approach and new building keep paying dividends at their current rate.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 reasons the Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl breakthrough seems imminent | Opinion
