For five years running, the Buffalo Bills were the No. 1 team in the AFC East. That reign came to an end in 2025, when the Bills finished 12-5 and were second in the division behind the 14-3 New England Patriots.
New England's successful season came to an unsuccessful end in Super Bowl LX as the Pats were dominated by the Seattle Seahawks, 29-13.
That was last year; however, I wouldn't be surprised if the Bills took back the AFC East from the Patriots this season after overcoming a slow start under first-year head coach Joe Brady and new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
Let's take a look at how the Bills are primed to win the AFC East back from the Patriots after diminishing early struggles in 2026.
How Bills will take back AFC East
Brady will be entering his first season as the Bills' head coach after the organization parted ways with longtime head coach Sean McDermott last season after nine years on the sideline. It was a shock to Bills fans, as they had really appreciated everything McDermott and Josh Allen had accomplished to finally make this team nationally relevant.
Now that the Bills promoted Brady from offensive coordinator to a broader team role, he was once considered one of the best young offensive coaches in football. He was brought in now to oversee the entire operation of the football team while still being able to call plays for the team's offense.
The team's decision to bring in Jim Leonhard was to try to change the attitude and scheme of the team's middling defense, which struggled to sack the quarterback and, at times, to stop the run. Brady went into his family coaching tree, hiring Sean Payton's former Denver Broncos assistant head coach and defensive passing game coordinator, Leonhard, as the Bills' new defensive coordinator to strengthen the team's defense.
The new pair could bring better long-term results, but as per SI.com's Connor Orr, It could be a short-term period of struggle. He has the Bills starting 2-3 after five games into the season, but the experience of quarterback Josh Allen along with the team's mindset of fast paced practices and first-class conditioning will help the team go 8-4 in their last 12 games finished with a 17 game record of 10-7 which would be good enough to take the AFC East back from the Pats in 2026.
"As for the layout of the schedule itself, Buffalo's season has clear chapters. This is not a glorious start, and the Bills make up for a hard opening road with the gift of four games against the Jets and Dolphins after their bye week. The tale-of-two-halves breakdown here (Buffalo begins the season 2-3) signals an all-new coaching staff that needs time to figure out its own personality." Orr stated.
In revealing his thoughts on the Bills' possibilities of taking over the AFC East, Orr clarifies that he believes the Bills' defensive coordinator is "going to be one of the best defensive coaches in the NFL one day," and that he liked how he ran the RPO while he coached at Wisconsin.
While the defense is infused with youth and has switched to a 3-4 scheme, they still have two veterans who will flourish in this system. Look for C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Bradley Chubb to be leaders who will inspire confidence and growth in the team's success in Year 1 of Jim Leonhard's defense.
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