Bills Central

One big change Bills OC Brady must make to beat the Kansas City Chiefs

The Buffalo Bills barely beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. A conservative game plan to run the ball and milk the clock got it done, but now the Bills must adapt to beat the Chiefs

Brian Letscher

Buffalo Bills running back Ray Davis against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 19, 2025.
Buffalo Bills running back Ray Davis against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 19, 2025. / Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady had a plan against the Ravens. Run the ball, avoid turnovers, burn the clock and keep the explosive Ravens offense off the field. 36 runs to 22 passes - or 62% runs. That's a full five percent higher than their season average of 47%.

I felt yesterday, the way that the game was going, that controlling the football and being able to run the ball was giving us an opportunity (to win). Specifically in the first half, it felt like controlling the line of scrimmage was in our favor.

- Joe Brady via BuffaloBills.com

While they did outrush the Ravens in the first half (87 to 73) that ratio that had many in the Bills Mafia and football pundits questioning Brady's philosophy in a close playoff game against an opponent that can score quickly and a Ravens D that was #1 against the run the last eight weeks of the season, giving up just 3.6 yards per carry.

Brady's conservative playcalling gave the Ravens a chance to tie the game in the end. With 8:41 left in the fourth quarter, the Bills offense had taken the ball down to the two yard line when, on third and goal, Brady called a Josh Allen run similar to what had scored earlier in the game.

"Similar to the touchdown earlier in the game. And just the guy that we thought would be covering Mack [Hollins] didn't cover him and is an unblocked player," Brady said per BuffaloBills.com

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

So a play that could've put the game out of reach with a touchdown instead turned into a Tyler Bass field goal. The Ravens then drove the length of the field for a touchdown on the ensuing drive and, as the world knows, if not for a Mark Andrews drop on the two-point conversion, the Bills would've been looking at a tie game.

A premiere coordinator and playcaller who's getting a lotta head coach hype, Brady seems to know that his philosophy must change if the Bills want to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the upcoming AFC Championship game further commenting that next time the Bills are in that position they need to finish with a touchdown - a good idea when it's win or go home. As Bruce Arians, the head coach of the 2020 Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers famously said "No risk it, no biscuit!"

We'll see just how hungry Brady and the Bills are come Sunday evening!

josh allen
Nov 17, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

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Brian Letscher
BRIAN LETSCHER

A Michigan native, Brian graduated from the University of Michigan in another century, where he earned a degree in economics and a Rose Bowl Championship ring while playing football for the Wolverines under Head Coach Gary Moeller. Brian went on to coach Division 1A football for several years before becoming a full-time writer and actor while maintaining an unhealthy interest in sports. He is currently developing a scripted television series, THOSE WHO STAY, based on a series of historical fiction articles he wrote about Bo Schembechler's Michigan football program as they struggle to unite and win the championship - which requires beating #1 Ohio State - during the tumultuous civil rights and anti-war movements of 1969.

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