ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills fired coach Sean McDermott on Monday after the team again failed to reach the Super Bowl in his nine seasons, two people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The move came two days after the bills were swiftly eliminated heartbreaking 33-30 overtime loss in Denver in the divisional round of the playoffs. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.
McDermott’s tenure ends after nine seasons in which he transformed the franchise into a perennial winner, only to be dismissed after failing to make a Super Bowl appearance. Buffalo became the NFL’s first team to win a playoff run in six consecutive years but not reach the Super Bowl.
The Bills went 12-5 in the regular season and saw their five-year run atop the AFC East end, finishing second behind the New England Patriots.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
The 51-year-old McDermott finished with a 98-50 record in the regular season and was 8-8 in the playoffs, ranking second on the team in wins behind Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy (112-70, 11-8). Levy did this for 11 seasons during a tenure that saw the Jim Kelly-led team reach – and lose – four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s.
McDermott’s inability to reach the Super Bowl Josh Allen at quarterback was his downfall. Although Allen has broken many of Kelly’s passing and scoring records, the Bills have advanced to the AFC championship game only twice – losing both times to Kansas City – during a team-record seven years in the playoffs.
Buffalo’s last three playoff losses have all been decided by three points. And three of McDermott’s playoff losses ended in overtime.
That includes a 42-36 loss to Kansas City in the 2021 divisional round, which is called “13 seconds” — the amount of time it took Patrick Mahomes to complete two passes for 44 yards and set up Harrison Butker’s tying field goal from 49 yards on the final play of regulation.
Despite his playoff inconsistencies, McDermott oversaw a team that won 10 or more regular-season games for seven straight seasons, including two team-record 13 wins in 2022 and ’24.
Buffalo reached the playoffs in eight of McDermott’s nine seasons. That includes 2017, when the Bills snuck into the postseason on the final day to end a 17-year playoff drought, which at the time was the longest active streak in North America’s four major pro sports.
The Bills became a model of stability under McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, who arrived in May 2017. And now they’re undergoing their first coaching search since McDermott took over for Rex Ryan, who was fired after two seasons in Buffalo.
McDermott was hired after six seasons as the Carolina Panthers’ defensive coordinator. Before that, he broke into the NFL in 1999 as a member of Andy Reid’s first staff in Philadelphia. McDermott worked his way up the ranks and became the Eagles’ defensive coordinator before being fired in 2010.
With Allen turning 30 in May, the Bills are expected to turn to an offensive line coach to help boost an offense that has too often asked the quarterback to carry the load.
The NFL’s 2024 MVP’s production dipped this season. He finished with 3,668 yards and 25 passing touchdowns, his lowest performance since his sophomore season in 2019.
The Bills got a boost from running back James Cook, who became Buffalo’s first player to win the NFL rushing title since OJ Simpson in 1976.
The defense struggled in part due to a transition to youth and a spate of injuries. Although Buffalo’s defense ranked seventh in the NFL this season, the unit struggled to stop the run.
It was in the play-offs that the defense was criticized for collapsing too often. Buffalo allowed 30 or more points in four of its playoff losses.
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