The Buffalo Bills promoted Joe Brady to head coach, but questions around play calling, playoff failures, and game day responsibility remain.
On paper, this makes sense. Maybe even feels safe.
Joe Brady gets promoted to head coach of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen is still your franchise quarterback, and the offense has put up numbers over the years. Continuity matters in the NFL, especially for a team that lives under Super Bowl expectations every single season. For some fans, that alone is enough to feel good about the direction.
But the longer you sit with it, the more uneasy you may feel.
The concern is not that Brady has never been a head coach. That part barely registers anymore. First time head coaches succeed all the time, and many teams would rather take a swing on upside than recycle the same familiar names.
The concern is everything else.
Since Brady took over full time as offensive coordinator, the Bills leaned heavily into the run game. They ranked first in rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns while Allen also won an MVP. Those facts matter.
But so do the trends that followed. In two full seasons with Brady running the offense, Buffalo hasn't produced a 1,000-yard receiver. Allen’s passing touchdown totals dropped year over year. And, more than once, the offense had to pull out a hook and lateral just to keep a game alive.
That does not scream confidence. It feels like survival.
Play calling became a weekly topic, especially in high leverage moments. And in the playoffs, the pattern is impossible to ignore. Three straight seasons with Brady as offensive coordinator, and three chances late in games to drive the field and take the lead or win. What happened? Three failures.
You can blame Allen for certain throws, and some of that is fair. But the bigger question remains. Why did it keep coming down to that moment in the first place?
Now layer in the biggest challenge of all. Being a head coach on game day.
Calling plays is Brady’s superpower. That is where he's at his best. But a head coach does not get to live in that bubble. On Sundays, you are juggling timeouts, challenges, defensive conversations, substitutions, and clock management. You're constantly watching the field, listening to multiple voices, and making split second decisions while the play clock counts down.
Even elite coaches struggle with that balance. Some make it look easy because they've lived it for years. Others never fully master it. Asking a first-time head coach to manage all of that while also calling plays is a razor thin line.
That's why this move feels a bit confusing. If you are going to change things, actually change them. If you believe Brady is the guy, then commit fully. But promoting him while, potentially, keeping everything else mostly the same feels like half a step forward.
Maybe the Bills know exactly what they are doing. Maybe this works. But there are real, legitimate reasons to be concerned. Not panicked. Not hopeless. Just uneasy.
And in Buffalo, uneasy has a way of lingering.