The Buffalo Bills can change a coach’s title, but they can’t change historical facts.
Although the Bills’ offense has been one of the NFL’s most productive units since Joe Brady replaced Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator midway through the 2023 season, it hasn’t been able to finish the job in any of the team’s last three postseason losses.
While firing head coach Sean McDermott as a result of the Bills’ inability to break through “that playoff wall,” team owner Terry Pegula hired a replacement whose offense stalled on three critical postseason drives each of the past three years.
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If Bills’ brass is going to heap praise on Brady for the offense’s prowess, then it must also recognize the fact that his unit failed on its final possession three years in a row.
Three predictable first-down runs backfire
Broncos 33, Bills 30 (2025 divisional)
Had the officials ruled Brandin Cooks’s catch-turned-interception in favor of the Bills, Brady would have, in all likelihood, been bailed out despite his late-game miscues earlier this month against the Denver Broncos.
With the next score determining the winner, the Bills took possession at their own 7-yard line in overtime, Brady’s play-calling evoked screams that could be heard from East Aurora to the Rocky Mountains.
In what’s become one of the more predictable tendencies in football, the Bills chose to hand off on three consecutive first-down plays. The three rushing attempts netted three total yards, putting Buffalo behind schedule on three different occasions during the overtime possession.
Two snaps prior to the controversial Cooks play, which happened on 3rd-and-11, the Bills lost one yard on a first-down run. It was as if the defense knew exactly what was coming. Then again, so did anyone paying attention. In 2025, Brady’s Bills chose run plays on more than 60 percent of 1st-and-10 scenarios.
Jan 17, 2026; Denver, CO, USA; Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III (4) reacts after losing an AFC Divisional Round playoff game against the Denver Broncos | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Setting offense up for failure
Chiefs 32, Bills 29 (2024 championship)
With the Bills facing a three-point deficit and under 3:00 remaining, back-to-back incompletions resulted in a 3rd-and-10 at Buffalo’s 42-yard line.
Instead of throwing beyond the sticks in an attempt to move the chains, Brady dialed up a low-percentage flanker screen to Amari Cooper, who had notably lost a step in the twilight of his career.
In order to work, this particular play call required perfect execution from both the blockers and the aging pass-catcher. Initially slipping, Cooper ran into a tackle after gaining only half of the needed yardage.
Brady failed the Bills on the ensuing fourth down, too. With Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s known tendency to blitz heavily in such situations, Buffalo had no extra protection for Allen in the backfield. Overloading the right side, Kansas City applied immediate pressure and forced Allen into a desperation heave.
Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper (18) against the Kansas City Chiefs during the AFC Championship Game | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
One yard on three snaps
Chiefs 27, Bills 24 (2023 divisional)
Trailing the Chiefs by a field goal, the Bills had the home field advantage and the ball with the chance to win it.
It was 1st-and-10 at the Chiefs’ 27-yard line with 2:42 remaining, and Brady called a run play that gained one yard. After two subsequent incompletions, the Bills were forced to settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt that went wide right.
The simple fact is Brady has to find a way to get the Bills in the end zone in that situation. One yard on three plays will almost always never be good enough.
Buffalo Bills place kicker Tyler Bass (2) missed what would have been a game tying field goal. | Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
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