When all is said and done, the 2022 AFC Divisional Round will haunt Sean McDermott for the rest of his life. Not only will fans remember it simply as “13 seconds,” but the current Bills head coach will remember it as blowing his best shot at winning a Super Bowl.
You see, ever since that play, McDermott has done all he possibly can to find scapegoat after scapegoat. The defense allowing the Chiefs to tie the game and win in overtime in the playoffs? Fire Leslie Frazier. The offense not clicking after Brian Daboll leaves? Fire Ken Dorsey. But the fact of the matter is that all of Buffalo’s problems over the last 22 months can be traced back to the man running the show.
After another heartbreaking loss, the Bills are 6-6 as they go into their bye week. Of their six losses, three have come off game-winning drives after the Bills took the lead with less than two minutes to play. In Week 7 against New England, Josh Allen led a scoring drive to put the Bills up 25-22- the Patriots scored with less than 10 seconds left after Mac Jones marched them right down the field.
In Week 10, Allen put the Bills on top with south of two minutes remaining- the Broncos miss a field goal, but Buffalo is flagged for 12 men on the field, and Denver gets another chance at the kick, which they hit to win. And now, against the Eagles, Allen leads the Bills down the field and throws a go-ahead touchdown to Gabe Davis, only for McDermott to get ultra conservative defensively and allow the Eagles to march down the field and tie the game with a field goal. The Eagles would get the ball back after a Bills field goal and score on a Jalen Hurts touchdown run to win the game.
Now, is Allen without fault? No. Obviously, he has thrown less-than-timely interceptions. However, he also leads the NFL in total touchdowns by a comfortable margin, and is expected to be judge, jury, and executioner for the Bills’ offense. Plus, in each of the aforementioned games, he put them in position to win, only for McDermott’s defense to blow it. Yet, in each of these losses, we don’t hear about how Josh Allen scored four total touchdowns, or how, even in spite of an off day as a whole, Allen rallied the Bills to take a late lead. Rather, all that is discussed is whether or not Allen is really a top-tier quarterback, and the blame is thrown at the quarterback rather than the head coach and defensive play-caller who blew the leads to begin with.
They won't win anything with Sean McDermott as the head coach.
— Nate Geary (@NateGearySports) November 27, 2023
While it’s fair to point out the injuries on that side of the ball, that isn’t an excuse for how Buffalo’s defense has collapsed in these games. Regardless of who is on the field, they have the personnel that should be capable to preventing Mac Jones from looking like Joe Montana. Injuries didn’t make the Bills have an extra man on the field for a field goal attempt. And injuries didn’t make Buffalo play extremely soft coverage on a third down and four which led to the Eagles picking up an easy first down, which extended the eventual game-winning drive.
Injuries also didn’t make McDermott take a knee with 20 seconds left whilst having a transformer at quarterback who has shown he is capable of giving you a shot at winning in those circumstances.
Josh Allen with a LASER to Stefon Diggs! #BillsMafia #Thanksgiving #BUFvsDETpic.twitter.com/cRJceRhI03
— Get Your Game On (@GetYourGameOnP) November 24, 2022
Rather than giving Allen a shot to win, he decided to go to tuck his tail and go to overtime, which led to a loss. Oh and, by the way, McDermott is now 1-6 in overtime games for his career- not great. And that ultra-conservative mindset of playing to not lose rather than playing to win is the story of Sean McDermott’s tenure in Buffalo. And this time, it not only cost them another game, it very well could cost them their season.
Sometimes it truly feels like Sean McDermott is the only one that can’t see what every single other person knows is coming at the end of games.
— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) November 27, 2023
Now, with their playoff hopes quickly fading, the bell is tolling once again. Only this time, Sean McDermott is out of people to fire. There is room for anymore excuses, and there is nowhere else to point the finger except at the mirror. It’s time for him to be the one to pay the boatman’s toll.
