Our two-part profile on the new man in charge of the Buffalo Bills here, icymi:
Subscribers can read Go Long’s latest conversation with Brady this week below.
ORCHARD PARK, NY — Joe Brady is engineering a psychological shift off Abbott Road. It’s overdue. It’s authentic to who he is as a person. The new man in charge of the Buffalo Bills does not want his players to lose the plot.
This was more than an internal promotion because the way Brady attacks day-to-day life as an NFL head coach is a sharp contrast to his former boss. I remember sitting in Sean McDermott’s office in January 2025 — the man was prepared. At one point, he grabbed a Postseason Plan off his desk. The thick packet of papers stapled in the left corner consisted of a long list of neatly curated sections: “mindset,” “the game,” “distractions,” “first-round bye,” “Super Bowl.”
He hyper-analyzed every conceivable situation players could face on gameday.
Planning for the likes of Patrick Mahomes followed similar protocol. Those around the coach who turned this moribund franchise around could sense a tightness build as kickoff neared.
And here’s Brady.
He wants his staff immersed in the details of every opponent — no doubt — but he isn’t going to drown his players in an information overload. Specifically, Brady does not want his players obsessing over individual players on the other sideline. It’s why he didn’t name one New York Jets defender in his first meeting with the offense as OC in ’23 and continued the trend. Hell, the only player he’s ever spoke about in front of the unit was Myles Garrett. (More on that later.)
Why put Mahomes, why put anyone up on a pedestal? Doing so may allow a droplet of fear to work its way into the subconscious. And it’s not the Bills who should be afraid.
When I sat down with Brady at length for our two-parter in the spring, this was the No. 1 takeaway.
“In front of the mass,” Brady said, “when you focus on the other team too much, you lose sight. I want the guys to know going into that game, ‘It is about us.’ They’ve got to play us and not the other way around.”
They need to deal with Josh Allen.
They need to deal with the miserable Western New York cold in December.
They need to deal with a new defense that’ll ramp up unpredictability… and attack. Jim Leonhard’s scheme will take chances.
All of which makes the team’s Week 1 opponent so poetic. The Bills fly south to what’s been their personal house of horrors. The ultimate litmus test for the Joe Brady Era arrives at the starter’s gun. Schematically, thinking this way backfired in last season’s 23-19 defeat. Allen was sacked eight times, hit 12 times, battered silly.
Mainly because this rabid Texans defense attacks Sundays the same way. They declare: “We want you to remember when you played the Texans.”
Go Long threw itself back into this Texans World for our final season-preview feature.
Sources explained how this defense just might’ve cracked the code on the greatest player of our generation: Patrick Mahomes. Truth is, they’ve had the same success vs. Allen, too.
The Texans crater the pocket without blitzing and then it’s a matter of not letting Allen (like Mahomes) knife up the pocket. The Texans want to flush Allen wide —which is where he likes to go anyway — where their team speed/violence reigns supreme. Allen possesses a cannon. He can make any throw on the run. But the Texans are also confident in their DBs sticking with Buffalo’s receivers.
How Buffalo approaches this offensive gameplan will be fascinating.
In last year’s matchup, Brady did not keep extra blockers in to protect.
The Bills did a bunch of funky pre-snap motions to identify what the Texans were in and Allen was clearly confident he had this defense exactly where he wanted ‘em. The QB wanted all five weapons out on routes. Thing is, the Texans will gladly take their five rushers up front vs. any team’s five linemen 1 on 1. Oh, you’d like to isolate offensive tackles on Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter? Fine by them.
Compounding the issue, Buffalo didn’t have receivers, tight ends or backs who could shake free 1 on 1 on those routes.
The last two years, the Bills have had a horde of pass catchers who are at their best inside, which allowed the Texans to pack the middle. To win on Sunday — and in January — they’ll need a separator capable of winning outside. Can DJ Moore be that weapon? A healthy Joshua Palmer? Keon Coleman 3.0? The Texans will take their chances sticking Derek Stingley or Kamari Lassiter over an X and mucking up the action inside. It takes a burner who can pull away from a cornerback to have success against this defense.
The Texans have questions of their own. C.J. Stroud has only regressed since his sensational rookie season. Nobody in football faces more pressure than him.
On Sunday, we’ll start to get answers.
A prediction? Brady, Allen, Leonhard and these 2026 Bills slam the damn accelerator for better or worse this week and beyond.
More passing, more downfield concepts on offense.
More pressure, more risk-taking on defense. As Leonhard said this week: “We have to throw our punches.”
This will lead to mistakes. But in the long run — in the interest of championships — it’s the correct way to play. I loved Josh Allen’s answer in our 1 on 1 on his fumble at Denver in the playoffs. Hell no, that gaffe won’t dull his play style. “I’m going to play football how I know how to play it until I can’t,” he told us. The Bills’ defensive approach must mirror this mentality. Trying to keep all the action in front of you works wonders against the New York Jets or Miami Dolphins in Week 12.
Brady’s mission is to mold a Bills team capable of winning games vs. the best quarterbacks in the playoffs.
From the day he was hired, the 36-year-old has not shied from Super Bowl expectations. Neither has GM Brandon Beane. Amid frantic public outcry over the hire, the team’s new president of football operations told us: “If I’m wrong, the moving company will be at my house. I’m not going to have regret of choosing someone to appease the outside if I thought it should have been something different. If I’m wrong, I’ll fucking take my job and fucking go home.”
Well, the 2026 NFL Season is finally here.
Go Long caught up 1 on 1 with Brady again after one practice this week to revisit his “they’ve got to play us” crede and how this mindset will apply to Sunday’s heavyweight fight.
Brady knows his voice sets the tone.
Players take on the reflection of their coach. We also talk big picture.
Brady has come a long way from sprinting onto a high school football field for his one shot as a player before then suffering a staph infection and hearing a doctor say he might lose his leg.
Paid subscribers can read our latest conversation below.
When we sat down back in April, I love the way you put it: “They’ve got to play us.” That mentality, that mindset. Now that it’s been five months, how have you incorporated those words into your football team as the coach? In little ways and big ways?