Joe Brady’s first regular-season game as head coach of the Buffalo Bills ended the same way his tenure began — with a win. Buffalo defeated the Houston Texans 36-31 Sunday, giving Brady his first victory as an NFL head coach and putting him on a short list in Bills history.
Brady became just the fourth head coach in franchise history to win his regular-season debut with Buffalo, joining Marv Levy, Rex Ryan, and his immediate predecessor, Sean McDermott. That’s some interesting company.
Levy was the first, taking over midway through the 1986 season and beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-12, on November 9. He would eventually lead Buffalo to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances and earn a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Nearly three decades later, Ryan opened his Bills tenure with a 27-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts on September 13, 2015. McDermott followed two years later, beating the New York Jets, 21-12, on September 10, 2017.
Now Brady gets to add his name to the list. The 36-year-old was promoted to head coach in January after an extensive search to replace McDermott.
Brady was already a familiar face inside One Bills Drive, having joined the organization as quarterbacks coach in 2022 before taking over as offensive coordinator during the 2023 season. He held that job full time for the past two seasons before being named the 21st head coach in franchise history on Jan. 27.
There are much bigger goals ahead for Brady and the Bills in 2026. But the first one is officially checked off the list.
Joe Brady is 1-0, as he’ll certainly remind us soon.
