Four times now, Sean McDermott has stood behind a podium and answered questions about why his team could not solve Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the playoffs.
No matter whether the teams clash in Missouri or New York, who has the ball last, whether the game ends in regulation or overtime or even if the Bills have a 99 percent chance to win and just have to prevent a field goal for just 13 seconds, McDermott and the Bills can’t get over the hump that is the Chiefs.
“They’re a good football team, they’ve won two Super Bowls, they’ve been to seven straight AFC Championship games. That’s no excuse, this is a good football team. We got to keep working at it to get over that hump, there’s no doubt about it,” McDermott said after Sunday’s 32-29 setback in the AFC Championship game. “We’ve won a lot of tough games this year against really good opponents, really good coaches and I’m proud of this team for it. This is obviously a challenge for us. We’ll figure it out.”
The Bills being the ’90s NBA playoff contender running into the Chiefs’ Michael Jordan Bulls teams each postseason brings coaching decisions under the spotlight, especially when McDermott has yet to out-duel his Kansas City counterpart in Andy Reid in the postseason.
McDermott didn’t catch flak like he did three years ago when the Bills couldn’t bring home the victory with 13 seconds left, but he made some debatable and questionable decisions Sunday.
Four times now, Sean McDermott has stood behind a podium and answered questions about why his team could not solve Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the playoffs.
No matter whether the teams clash in Missouri or New York, who has the ball last, whether the game ends in regulation or overtime or even if the Bills have a 99 percent chance to win and just have to prevent a field goal for just 13 seconds, McDermott and the Bills can’t get over the hump that is the Chiefs.
“They’re a good football team, they’ve won two Super Bowls, they’ve been to seven straight AFC Championship games. That’s no excuse, this is a good football team. We got to keep working at it to get over that hump, there’s no doubt about it,” McDermott said after Sunday’s 32-29 setback in the AFC Championship game. “We’ve won a lot of tough games this year against really good opponents, really good coaches and I’m proud of this team for it. This is obviously a challenge for us. We’ll figure it out.”
The Bills being the ’90s NBA playoff contender running into the Chiefs’ Michael Jordan Bulls teams each postseason brings coaching decisions under the spotlight, especially when McDermott has yet to out-duel his Kansas City counterpart in Andy Reid in the postseason.
McDermott didn’t catch flak like he did three years ago when the Bills couldn’t bring home the victory with 13 seconds left, but he made some debatable and questionable decisions Sunday.
There’s a realistic scenario in which the Bills are the ones leading 32-29 before the Chiefs kicked the late field goal, which then would have tied the game.
“We’re a good football team, we’re a good organization, we’ve had a heck of a season, there’s momentum going into next year,” McDermott said. “We’re thankful for the success we had this year. It hurts when you come up short of the Super Bowl or winning a Super Bowl, it hurts. The games come down to inches.”
