The Bills’ fortunes began to change for the better when they selected QB Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Aside from the Patriots hoping for the same boost from their young quarterback, there are several comparisons between the two. Allen was a raw but incredibly talented youngster. Like Patriots rookie Drake Maye, Allen did not find immediate success in the league and finished his rookie season with comparable stats to Maye. Many of his teammates refer to Maye as “Josh Allen 2.0” due to his similar skills. Both quarterbacks have great size, elite arm talent, excellent mobility and poise. The two passers can win from the pocket, but their superpower leads to plays that go out of structure.

The hope is that Maye, who has shown franchise quarterback potential, will develop into the Patriots version of Allen. However, the steps the Bills took to get Allen to this point were crucial to his success. Even as an Allen fan, you have to admit that things could have easily turned out differently for him. Allen was an inconsistent prospect who needed the right development early in his career. Many experts doubted Allen would develop into a starting quarterback, let alone the current MVP frontrunner.

On the bright side, Maye is slightly ahead of Allen at this point in his career. For example, in his very first start against the Patriots, Allen completed just 48.8% of his passes with two interceptions and a QBR of 16.5 out of 100. Allen’s accuracy was erratic, he didn’t see the field well, and although the raw skill was there, At times, putting together the entire package was considered excessive. To Allen’s credit, he worked on his craft to improve.

In addition to working with quarterback developer Brian Daboll in his first four seasons, the Bills traded star receiver Stefon Diggs to further Allen’s development. They then continued to recruit talent on offense, moving away from Diggs in the second phase of Allen’s career, relying more on explosive RB James Cook, first-round TE Dalton Kincaid and shifty slot receiver Khalil Shakir, while They acquired veteran Amari Cooper in a trade. Buffalo has also improved its offensive line this season to sixth in win rate among pass blockers and 16th in win rate among run blockers.

Daboll became the Giants’ head coach in part because of his work with Allen. Buffalo initially found the wrong replacement for Daboll in Ken Dorsey, but quickly switched to up-and-coming game designer Joe Brady. As we will explain, the Allen-Brady pairing is a heater. It’s the perfect mix of an elite quarterback at the highest level and a play-caller who can take full advantage of Allen’s immense physical abilities.

In this week’s preview, we’ll give you a look at how Allen and Brady have led the Bills to the second-best offense in DVOA and points per game (31.8) this season. We also discuss Maye’s first matchup against Sean McDermott’s defense – which ranks 10th in DVOA over the last 15 weeks – a system that gives even Tom Brady problems.

Let’s break down the schematic chess game between the Patriots and the Bills on Sunday.

Patriots defense vs. Bills offense: How the Bills built a plan around QB Josh Allen

After examining the Bills’ offense on film, the main takeaway was how well Brady designs plays to corner the defense by taking advantage of Allen’s physical attributes.

After last week’s loss to the Cardinals, New England’s hesitation to use Maye’s mobility as an advantage became a big topic of conversation. The Pats have dabbled in play designs that factor in Maye’s rushing ability, and the rookie ranks fourth among quarterbacks in scramble yards this season (361). However, they haven’t addressed it yet, and a debate over the extent to which the Patriots should use Maye more as a runner came to a head when they were loaded with consecutive traditional under-center runs that resulted in a turnover on downs last week the Cardinals four-yard line.

When looking at the Bills’ offense, it’s interesting to see what the Patriots could do with Maye in the future. Brady is a playmaking darling because he uses movement and formations to create space and numbers, which is beneficial to Buffalo’s offense. The Bills rank fifth in the rate of movement they use to pull defenders out of the space they want to attack on defense. They also lead the league in trip usage (3×1, empty) and feature 4×1 formation spacing. Even though they have a great passing game, Buffalo ranks third in rush DVOA, and a lot of that revolves around Allen.