The Bills Fired the Wrong Man

The Buffalo Bills' 33–30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos was an instant classic. Momentum swings. Big plays. Defensive stands. Costly mistakes. It had everything you want from playoff football. What it should not have had was a pink slip waiting at the end for Sean McDermott.

Josh Allen threw two interceptions and fumbled three times, losing two of them. Those are execution errors. Those are player mistakes. And yet, somehow, McDermott became the fall guy.

Yes, the Bills lost. But playoff football is unforgiving, and sometimes the margins are razor thin. Despite the loss, this was a competitive, hard-fought game on both sides of the ball. There was no embarrassment. No collapse. No quit. There was no clear justification for firing a coach who consistently put his team in position to contend.

Sean McDermott led the Bills to seven straight playoff appearances and seven consecutive seasons with double-digit wins. That level of consistency in the NFL is rare air. His postseason résumé includes two wild card losses, four divisional round losses, and one AFC Championship Game appearance. While critics will point to the lack of a Super Bowl trip, context matters. Winning a Super Bowl is brutally difficult, and sustained relevance should not be dismissed so casually.

Football is ultimately about execution. Players have to make plays when it matters most. Coaches can scheme, motivate, and prepare, but they cannot protect the ball or make throws on the field. If accountability was truly the goal, the spotlight should have shifted toward roster construction and organizational decisions.

Instead, the Bills chose a curious path. Rather than placing pressure on the front office, they promoted general manager Brandon Beane to president of football operations. That move raises eyebrows. If postseason shortcomings were unacceptable, why reward the architect of the roster? It suggests that deeper issues may exist within the organization, and that McDermott was the easiest piece to remove rather than the correct one.

Let's be honest about the football side. To win a Super Bowl, teams need an elite defense and a diverse, adaptable offense. The Bills' offense has relied heavily on one player to do everything. Josh Allen is phenomenal, but no quarterback can carry a franchise alone. When the offense stalls or becomes predictable, defenses catch up. That is not solely a coaching failure. That is a personnel and philosophy issue.

The next head coach in Buffalo will inherit enormous expectations and even bigger shoes to fill. Winning consistently, managing a superstar quarterback, and navigating a fan base desperate for a championship is no easy task. History tells us that replacing stability does not guarantee progress.

This situation feels eerily familiar. It echoes the Marty Schottenheimer era with the San Diego Chargers, when sustained success was overshadowed by postseason disappointment, leading to a decision that ultimately set the franchise back. The Chargers never truly recovered from that move, cycling through coaches and identities while searching for what they once had.

The Bills had stability. They had respect. They had relevance. In chasing the final step, they may have taken one backward.

Sean McDermott deserved better. And Buffalo may one day realize they fired the wrong man.

***NOTE:  What if Sean McDermott takes the job in Las Vegas?  That will be a huge upgrade for the Raiders. Will Jon Gruden be hired for the Bills head coaching position?  He seems the only person that can steer the wheel for the Super Bowl.  He did with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after Tony Dungy set the team up for success, only to get fired like McDermott.  

What are our thoughts?