The Buffalo Bills are being pegged as the team to beat in the AFC East, and the forecast comes with a familiar-looking ceiling: another 12-5 season in Year 1 of the Joe Brady era.
NFL analyst Moe Moton of Bleacher Report projects Buffalo to finish atop the division in 2026, backing the Bills to keep rolling even after the coaching change that sent Sean McDermott out and promoted Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach. Moton’s read is simple: the offense should keep humming, and the roster has enough proven talent on the other side of the ball to hold up.
“Buffalo elevated Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach,” Moton wrote. “So expect the team's high-powered offense to continue its scoring flurries with wideout DJ Moore in the mix.
The Bills will need time to adjust to new defensive play-caller Jim Leonhard. That said, they have the veteran talent to field a stingy unit with the addition of edge rusher Bradley Chubb and defensive back C.J.
Gardner-Johnson joining the No. 1 pass defense from last season. The Bills must figure out how to stop the run, but they're the best team in the AFC East.”
Buffalo’s offseason helped fuel that optimism. The front office landed Moore from the Chicago Bears and brought in Chubb and Gardner-Johnson in free agency, giving Brady a roster that looks built to contend right away.
The Bills are coming off a 12-5 season that ended with a Divisional Round loss to the Denver Broncos in the 2026 playoffs. That defeat also set the stage for a new era, with McDermott dismissed and Brady elevated to the top job.
Now the challenge shifts to a loaded schedule. Buffalo’s 2026 slate includes matchups with the Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Bears and Broncos.
At the center of it all is Josh Allen, whose window to win a championship keeps drawing more attention. Allen was the 2024 MVP and posted 3,668 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 579 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns last season. For his career, the Pro Bowler has 30,102 passing yards, 220 passing touchdowns, 4,721 rushing yards and 79 rushing touchdowns.
Allen sounded encouraged by the way Brady has handled the transition.
“Still respecting the past and what's been here the last 10 years and not shying away from that, but also having his own twist on it,” Allen said after Brady was named HC. “It's been really good to see him embrace the role and step into it. The way that he talks to the guys, you can tell he's very well respected with everybody in that locker room, and it's only going to continue to grow in my opinion.”
If Moton’s prediction holds, Buffalo will spend the season doing what it has done so often lately: trying to turn a strong regular season into something bigger.
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One speculative trade proposal has kicked that discussion back into gear, suggesting Buffalo could look to Carolina for help in the QB room. The logic is not that such a move would obviously upgrade the current setup, but that it could give the Bills a backup with starting reps and a resume that includes being part of a Super Bowl-winning team, which is the sort of detail front offices tend to notice when they are weighing insurance behind a franchise quarterback. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger question now is whether Bernard can settle into the next stage of his role under a new defensive coordinator, especially after a summer spent getting himself back to full strength. His place in the middle of the defense has always come with responsibility, but this year brings a little more uncertainty than usual as the Bills adjust around him and watch closely to see how he responds. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Camp Battles Are Defining Jim Leonhards New Defense
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For a roster that has leaned on defensive continuity in recent years, the competition is the point as much as the formation change. Leonhard is keeping several spots open and letting camp decide which players can handle the new responsibilities, which should make the next few weeks especially revealing for a defense trying to establish a new identity. The early signs have been encouraging for a few young players, but the bigger question is how quickly Buffalo can turn that depth chart traffic into a front seven that looks comfortable in Leonhards system. [Read more 🡒]