One month into this Buffalo Bills season, much has been learned and much is left to be determined.
And in typical Bills fashion, it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride.
Season-opening wins over the Houston Texans on the road and Detroit Lions at home bred confidence that the offence with Joe Brady as head coach and play-caller was functioning at another level, one the rest of the NFL would be challenged to try and slow down, never mind stop.
But the past two home games – a narrow but ugly win over the Los Angeles Chargers and narrow but ugly loss to the division rival New England Patriots – have left Buffalo heading to the West Coast for a pair of games against the Rams and Raiders with plenty of reasons for concern.
There’s been lots to like, including a strong presence from wide receiver D.J. Moore and breakout performances on defence from outside linebacker Greg Rousseau and defensive tackle Deone Walker.
But here are some key questions after the first month of the season that will be answered over the course of the coming weeks and months by what takes place on the field.
Is this version of Josh Allen better or worse than the version that matured in eight seasons with Sean McDermott as head coach?
The popular narrative that McDermott’s cautious nature limited Allen’s potential seemed to be validated by the way the Bills quarterback played during wins over the Texans and Lions. Allen threw the football more often, more aggressively, and with more vertical throws down field.
Brady had fully unleashed the monster, or so it seemed. But the past two weeks have told a different story.
Allen has struggled finding answers from the pocket at critical times, often throwing the ball away or taking sacks. Once the NFL’s king of ball security, Allen has three interceptions in Buffalo’s past two games and has fumbled four times this season, three of which were recovered by Buffalo.
In short, the offence has been mostly off-schedule and lacked the kind of rhythm it had during the first two games of the season.
The tendency towards more big throws has had its plusses but also has comes at a cost, one the Bills felt fully in last week’s loss to New England when Allen underthrew Josh Palmer on a pass into double coverage that was picked off to end Buffalo’s final possession of the game.
Some deterioration along the offensive line, particularly an aging Dion Dawkins at left tackle, is also part of the story.
Is Brady ready to meet the moment as the NFL’s youngest head coach charged with Super Bowl expectations?
Brady has stated that his pleasure or displeasure with what happens on the field isn’t tied to whether his team wins or loses, which is a way of trying to ensure his players remain focused on improvement – even when they get the W.
On Brady’s side of the ball there are questions about Buffalo’s tendency to go away from the run game when the passing game struggles to keep the offence on schedule. And two games in a row, one of their primary offensive players has had a minimal role – slot receiver Kalil Shakir with one catch against the Chargers and tight end Dalton Kincaid with just one against the Patriots.
Is the new defence an improvement?
Nothing about the Bills changed more from the McDermott era than the defence, which has seen an overhaul of both personnel and scheme this season.
But aside from the 3-4 alignment of the front seven, the actual execution of this defence isn’t dramatically different than it was under McDermott, with the Bills being a low-blitz team and playing a high percentage of zone in the secondary.
Presumably, there are concerns about whether Buffalo’s personnel in the secondary can stand up long enough in man coverage to allow the front to get home, but we haven’t really seen that tested so far.
The secondary is struggling against the pass, having allowed Drake Maye to go from a player under fire in New England to the AFC offensive player of the week for his performance against the Bills.
The Bills corners have been especially challenged, including veteran Christian Benford, who is usually an elite player but had a subpar first month of the season.
Do the Bills have a personnel issue at corner?
The Bills spent a first-round pick on Maxwell Hairston in 2025 and a second-round pick on Davison Igbinosun this past April, but that duo was not up to the task against New England while Benford was nursing a toe injury.
Particularly of concern is Hairston, who started just a handful of games as a rookie due to injury, and was targeted repeatedly by the Patriots last Sunday. Brady has strongly supported his player to the media, but if his struggles continue once Benford returns, it will be interesting to see whether he winds up sharing time with Igbinosun or is replaced by the rookie in the starting lineup.
Is Kincaid ready to be a consistent primary offensive weapon?
There has been anticipation Kincaid would become a high-end and reliable piece of the offence ever since the Bills made him a first-round pick in 2023.
That process was interrupted by availability and injuries the past two seasons. But after catching 12 passes on 14 targets for 205 yards during the first two games of the season, Kincaid’s usage and production have come crashing back to earth.
Against the Chargers it was two catches on three targets, and a week later just one catch on two targets and zero between Buffalo’s first and last drives of the game.
That was especially perplexing in a game that D.J. Moore left early because of a shoulder injury.
Why don’t the Bills throw more to their running backs?
The Bills were among the bottom tier of NFL teams throwing to their running backs a year ago, but that was expected to change with Pete Carmichael coming over from Denver as offensive co-ordinator, where the Broncos targeted their backs at the seventh-highest rate in the NFL.
Instead, Buffalo ranks 24th in this category so far this season, and lead back James Cook, who has some decent pass-catching skill, has just six receptions for 24 yards and a long of six yards.
What does the Bills’ strength of schedule tell us after one month?
Back when the season began, the Bills’ season-opening quintet of Texans, Lions, Chargers, Patriots and Rams looked like a murderers’ row. But the Texans and Chargers are both 0-4 and the Lions are showing flaws. Meanwhile, the Patriots ranged from so-so to awful – until they faced Buffalo.
It all adds to the intrigue of what they will look like up against the pre-season Super Bowl favourites in Los Angles.
It’s a game that could tell us a lot about these Bills.