Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Sean McDermott
Offensive Coordinator: Joe Brady
Defensive Coordinator: Bobby Babich
Special Teams Coordinator: Chris Tabor
2024 Summary (W-L Record: 13-4)
For the 4th time in 5 years, the Bills’ season ended at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. Interestingly enough, they’ve beaten K.C. four straight times in the regular season going back to 2021, including 3 times at Arrowhead. They just can’t find a way to make the one play they need to in January:
The silver lining of last season is that Josh Allen got some much-deserved recognition as the NFL MVP. For the 5th straight year, including the playoffs, he had more than 45 total touchdowns. The key difference last season was that he threw just 6 interceptions, and the Bills shockingly led the league with just 8 giveaways.
Allen has become much more careful with the ball since Joe Brady took over as offensive coordinator midway through 2023. They’ve turned into somewhat of a physical, run-it-down-your-throat offense. Last season, they ran the ball at the 5th-highest rate in the NFL and played more snaps with 6 offensive linemen than any other team in the league.
The commitment to the run culminated in their playoff win over the Ravens in the Divisional Round. Against the best run defense in the NFL, they chose to run it on 36 of 59 plays (61%) and had success doing so (147 yards, 4.1 avg, 3 TDs). That allowed them to control the game and come away with the victory.
Leaning on the run game had several other ancillary effects last season. It allowed the Bills to have success when they used play-action. In fact, they were the best team in the NFL in EPA per play on play-action according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
The run game took pressure off of Josh Allen and the protection, enabling the Bills to rank 3rd in pressure % allowed and 1st in sacks.
It also likely led to the Bill seeing the highest amount of single-high coverage in the NFL, which made it easier for them to throw in general. They finished the year 5th in net yards per pass attempt and 6th in completions of 20+ yards.
There’s no doubt that a better run game contributed to more manageable third downs, the ability to stay on the field (Buffalo ranked 7th on 3rd down), and success in the red zone (2nd in the NFL).
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On the other side of the ball, the Bills defense was designed to keep big pass plays from happening. They allowed the 5th fewest completions of 20 yards or more and had the 8th-lowest air-yards per completion average last season. One way they achieved this was by playing the 5th-highest percentage of split-safety coverage according to
of MatchQuarters.The biggest issues for the Bills were their run defense and their inability to get to the passer. They finished 19th in rushing yards allowed per attempt, gave up the 9th-most runs of 10 yards or more, and were just 18th in sacks.
Those were major contributors to the Bills’ inability to be effective on 3rd down, where they ranked 29th in the league. And that was ultimately one of the key contributors to their season-ending loss to the Chiefs. They couldn’t get off the field, allowing K.C. to convert 5 of 9 third downs as well as their only 4th-down attempt.
Key Additions
WR Josh Palmer
WR Elijah Moore
DL Larry Ogunjobi
DL T.J. Sanders (2nd Rd, 41st Overall)
DL Deone Walker (4th Rd, 109th Overall)
EDGE Joey Bosa
EDGE Michael Hoecht
EDGE Landon Jackson (3rd Rd, 72nd Overall)
CB Tre-Davious White
CB Maxwell Hairston (1st Rd, 30th Overall)
S Jordan Poyer
S Jordan Hancock (5th Rd, 170th Overall)
Key Losses
WR Mack Hollins
WR Amari Cooper
DL Austin Johnson
DL Quinton Jefferson
EDGE Dawuane Smoot
EDGE Von Miller
LB Baylon Spector
CB Rasul Douglas
CB Kaiir Elam
Did They Address Their Holes?
As mentioned above, 3rd down was an issue for the Bills defense last year. That comes down to the pass rush and the ability to cover. Buffalo has been searching for a great pass rush for years but hasn’t really been able to find it. I still question that they did enough in this department.