You never know what will happen when you replace a play-caller in season. You hope for the best, but there isn’t a lot of time to create the changes you want. But in the case of the Buffalo Bills, who fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on November 14 and replaced him with former quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, there are clear changes and improvements to the structure of an offense that wasn’t really working under Dorsey.
Perhaps the most obvious case of Brady’s offensive mindset showing up on the field happened last Sunday in the Bills’ 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. While everybody was focused on the now-infamous Kadarius Toney offside scandal, there was Josh Allen’s 25-yard touchdown to running back James Cook with 3:48 left in the first quarter,
Trent Sherfield motioned left to right, which put four to the left side. And it was a cool design. Cook ran a vertical route from the backfield in slot position, Gabe Davis ran a comeback from the boundary, Danton Kincaid ran a seam crosser, and Sherfield had the flat route to that side.
It looked like the Chiefs were in Quarters, and you can see safety Justin Reid telling safety Mike Edwards to jump from the middle third to the offensive left side of the field. So maybe that was a check off the motion. Edwards drove down on Cook, who ran right past him, and that was easy button all the way. The Chiefs had a five-man blitz with safety Chamarri Conner moving up, but the line handled it, and that was that.
As ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky pointed out, this was an example of “four-strong,” which placed a burden on Kansas City’s defense by putting four potential receivers to one side.
The @dallascowboys have a great defense…unless
The @BuffaloBills should motion at the snap at least half of their plays on offense#nfllive pic.twitter.com/56bnIpef9u
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 14, 2023
I went back and looked at each of Allen’s 25 touchdown passes this season, and the only other example of four-strong this season came on this five-yard touchdown pass to Cook against the New York Jets in Week 11. This was Brady’s first game as offensive coordinator, which tells you that Dorsey was not on board with the concept. Too bad for Dorsey, because this example of four-strong, in which Cook flared out to accentuate the bunch right design, was wide open. Especially when all three receivers charged to the middle of the field. The increase in pre-snap motion is cool, but it’s a lot cooler when it means something, and it can displace a defense for the betterment of the quarterback.
It’s not the only new wrinkle Brady has sewed into Buffalo’s offense, but it might be the most important as the Bills look for new ways to make the most of their receivers, and Allen’s otherworldly potential.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys got into the Bills’ offense at a deeper level — starting with the theories behind four-strong.
You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 15’s biggest NFL matchups (including Bills-Cowboys) right here:
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