Even with the disappointing Divisional Round exit, Buffalo’s offense remained the engine of its success. The Bills finished fourth in total offense (376.3 YPG) and fourth in scoring (28.3 PPG), and a major reason for that production was their ability to generate explosive plays through the air. Heading into 2026, though, new head coach Joe Brady made it clear that simply creating big plays isn’t enough. The process behind them has to improve as well, especially with Josh Allen at the controls.

“There’s so many different ways of how you can throw the ball 20 yards and get a 20-yard completion,” Brady said in the press conference on January 29, 2026. “You can throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage and get a 20-yard completion. There’s so many different ways you can get that, but I also think you have to understand that you got to be able to attack the defense to stress the defense vertically. But you also got to be smart about what you’re going with and making sure that Josh is making great decisions as he’s handling that.”

Statistically, the Bills were already leaning into the deep game in 2025. With Brady calling plays as offensive coordinator, Allen logged 1,972 air yards and 4.3 air yards per attempt, a clear indicator that Buffalo wasn’t just relying on quick throws and YAC. The production backed it up: 56 completions of 20+ yards, 20 completions of 30+, and 10 throws of 40+ yards or more.

On the surface, it worked. Allen finished the regular season with 3,668 passing yards while completing 69.3% of his throws. From that angle, Brady’s continued emphasis on vertical stress makes sense. Serious threats force safeties to back off, stretch coverages, and naturally create space underneath. Even when the ball doesn’t go deep, the threat alone reshapes a defense.

But here’s where the conversation gets more complicated.

Allen didn’t exactly operate from clean pockets. His average pocket time sat at just 2.5 seconds, and the defenses clearly knew it. He faced 128 blitzes, with pressure coming early and often. The results showed up everywhere: 40 sacks, 29 knockdowns, and 30 hurries. In other words, Allen was constantly being forced to decide, and that too promptly.

That environment explains both sides of his season: the jaw-dropping throws and the occasional risky decision that made Bills fans hold their breath. Decision-making under pressure isn’t Allen’s defining weakness, but it’s also not something you can ignore when you’re asking him to stress defenses vertically. That’s the exact area Brady is targeting.

“That’s an element of our game that has to improve, and it will improve,” the head coach said.

However, there’s just one catch. While Brady is pushing to expand and refine the vertical passing game, Allen is also dealing with an injury.

Josh Allen admitted leg injury after breaking his foot

Even though Josh Allen finished the regular season and suited up for a couple of postseason games, he wasn’t exactly operating at full strength. On Thursday, Allen spoke publicly for the first time during Joe Brady’s introductory press conference after Brady was named head coach. And the visual told its own story: Allen arrived on crutches, wearing a protective boot, still clearly in recovery mode.

Per reports, Allen revealed that he recently underwent surgery on his right foot after playing through a broken bone, an injury that had been bothering him for more than a month. The quarterback fractured his fifth metatarsal late in the second quarter of Buffalo’s 23–20 win over the Cleveland Browns on December 21. Despite that, he never shut things down.

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In fact, per reports, Allen said he would’ve been able to play had the Bills still been in the running this week. That said, the focus for Allen is simple now. He’s rehabbing, coming off surgery, and is expected to be fully healthy by the time spring practices roll around. As for Brady, he now takes over the job with a clear mandate: push Buffalo where Sean McDermott couldn’t, and finally get the Bills to the Super Bowl.