Upon Further Review: Joe Brady's got the Bills' offense believing in his vision
In his first full season as the Bills’ offensive coordinator, Joe Brady’s group leads the NFL in scoring, averaging 37.3 points per game.
Offensive coordinator in the NFL sometimes can be a thankless job.
When a team is struggling to move the ball or score points, the one calling the plays usually is the first one to get second guessed.
Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady is leading the NFL’s top-scoring offense through three weeks. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Luckily for the Buffalo Bills, they are having no such problems at the moment. Because of that, Joe Brady is the toast of the town.
In his first full season as the Bills’ offensive coordinator, Brady’s group leads the NFL in scoring, averaging 37.3 points per game. “Everybody eats” has become the offense’s mantra, and it’s Brady creating the recipes that is keeping everyone fat and happy.
“I think Joe has done a really good job. He understands the players that he has and their strengths and that's a big piece of it week to week,” head coach Sean McDermott said following Monday’s 47-10 victory over the Jaguars at Highmark Stadium. “He's shown, which I think is important, that he's willing to do whatever it takes, run, pass, throw a deep, throw it short, in order to win. I think that's a strength as well.
“So, without getting into too much strategy, I've been very impressed with Joe and the offensive staff and just the overall collaboration. I think one of Joe's greatest strengths is that he's a good listener and that's an important piece.”
It’s not just that the Bills are scoring a lot of points. It’s that they’re making it look easy in doing so. When the Bills moved on from former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey last season, their offensive numbers weren’t bad. But anyone who watched the team closely knew that something felt … off. Everything looked hard.
Through this season’s 3-0 start, things might not always be easy, but the offense is functioning in a wonderful rhythm.
"Joe's been doing an incredible job. We love his energy,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “The communication he has to us, allowing us to communicate with him stuff we like, stuff we don't like. He's done an awesome job scheming teams up. Tonight was a great example.”
Ahead of each game, quarterback Josh Allen leads a player’s only meeting. The offense goes through that week’s game plan and collectively decides what plays it like and what plays it doesn’t. That information then gets sent back to Brady.
“He's a one-in-a-million kind of guy,” right tackle Spencer Brown said of Brady. “His preparation, his detail, him relaying that information to us, it starts from the top and trickles down from their offensive meetings that are just coaching staff, putting the install in, and then us meeting as a team. ... I think Brady, he's using our strengths to our benefit right now. He's called three good games in a row.”
By listening to his players, Brady empowers them.
“It's not someone just feeding it down our throats. ‘If you like it or don't like it, it doesn't really matter, that's what we're going to do,’ ” Brown said. “It makes us have more (ownership). We have a handle on it. Our voices are heard.”
To be fair, the sheer brilliance of quarterback Josh Allen can make a lot of people look good, but there have been plenty of easy-to-point-out examples of Brady calling the perfect play at the perfect time during the team’s 3-0 start.
The fourth-down touchdown pass to James Cook on the opening drive against Miami in Week 2 was a thing of beauty. Monday night against the Jaguars, Brady went to a similar call on a fourth-and-3 play from the Jacksonville 44-yard line on the Bills’ opening drive. This time, Khalil Shakir was wide open for a 12-yard completion to move the chains. Later on the same drive, Brady spread out the Jaguars’ defense for a third-and-5 play, then called a quarterback draw for Allen, who easily gained 9 yards and a first down. On the next play, Cook ran in from 6 yards out to open the scoring.
“I thought Joe called a great, great game today,” Allen said.
There will be challenges ahead. The Bills are set to embark on a three-game road trip, starting Sunday in Baltimore. That’s not easy for any team. The more they play, the more film there will be on the Bills’ offense, which has played just 11 games, including the postseason, with Brady as the offensive coordinator. For what it’s worth, the team is 9-2 in those 11 games.
Part of the job of any coach is getting his players to believe in the plan, and so far, there is no doubt Brady is doing that.
“He has some really good play-makers to help his offense, a lot of selfless guys that buy into the system. I think that's the biggest thing that he's preached all year,” wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling said. “Everybody has to be involved. You've got to go block for guys and they'll block for you when it's your turn. I think that's what's created this dynamic of everybody being involved. It's starting with him. He's selfless and he passes it down to us. He makes sure it's preached every day.”