8 takeaways from Bills’ Sean McDermott’s end of season press conference
Here are eight takeaways from Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s end of season press conference on Tuesday:
We'll never really know
Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
At this point Western New York must now accept their fate: They will never know what went wrong in the final 13 seconds of regulation against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Like he did after the game, McDermott used his press conference to dodge all questions about the final sequence. Although, some are picking his words apart now.
All McDermott would lean into again was the “execution” of things being wrong. Reading between the lines, what does that mean?
We don’t know. Did kicker Tyler Mass boot it too far and mess up? Did McDermott maybe want to kick it short but trusted others on the coaching staff with their decision to kick it out of the end zone?
McDermott did admit that part of his disappointment in execution relates to how his defense allowed the Chiefs to work 44 yards down the field in 10 seconds. But that’s all we got, aside from it sounding like there’s a chance McDermott did not want a touchback to happen.
Josh will have a say
Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills . (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
Time will tell if Buffalo loses offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Many signs point toward the New York Giants potentially scooping him up.
If Daboll does leave, many think that QB coach Ken Dorsey could then be the Bills’ new offensive coordinator. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen praised Dorsey on Monday.
Considering that, will McDermott give Allen a say in picking the new OC? He will.
“Josh and I communicate on a lot of things,” McDermott said. “He will be in the loop and he will be communicated with.”
Later on, the coach said promoting from within is a positive.
“You want to be able to promote within just like any business sense. That’s where you get your return on investment,” McDermott said. “Again, just continue to invest in the people we have in our building.”
“There’s two sides to that: They’ve got to show you they have what it takes and put in the time and you’d love to be able to do that,” he added.
McDermott on if there are worthy candadites with the club right now: “I think generally speaking, we do (have some).”
Dorsey sounds locked in.
Losing close ones
Bills head coach Sean McDermott Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
The Bills lost every single one-possession game they played in this season.. Including against the Chiefs.
A year ago, Buffalo did very well in such contests. What changed? McDermott again provided little response but did fall onto execution again.
“I think it points to– you have to look at each one of those games separately and look at where we were at the end of the game,” McDermott said. “At the end of the day, you have to make sure you have your detail… which leads to great execution at the critical moments of those games.”
To McDermott’s credit, such efforts did improve as the season went on as he pointed out. First and foremost, Buffalo roared back in Kansas City behind Allen’s effort.
Then there’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers meeting– a loss, but again the Bills stormed back. And even look at the Bills’ win against the New England Patriots in the regular season. That was a one-score game late, but Buffalo was only up 26-21 but then responded with another touchdown to put the Patriots away.
Explaining late timeouts
Bills head coach Sean McDermott Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Bills called, and then did not call, some interesting timeouts late against Kansas City. In all scenarios, it worked out for the Chiefs.
In the final 13-second sequence, the Bills did use their timeouts. McDermott said he thought it would help his defense prepare for what was coming.
“I let them lineup to see the formation (the Chiefs had),” McDermott said. “There was some conversations that took place on the sideline.”
Unfortunately, following the game Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce said that doing so allowed him to see what Buffalo was going to do. He took advantage of that.
Then in overtime, the Chiefs simply rolled through the Bills defense. McDermott did not use any timeouts to regroup. His thoughts:
“I thought about it in my mind. You just go back and forth on that,” McDermott said.
Injury updates
An injured Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White . (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Again, little detail, but we’ll take the positives where we can. McDermott referenced three injured players: CB Tre’Davious White, DT Justin Zimmer and OL Ike Boettger. All three ended their seasons on injured reserve.
As of now, the coach said all three are rehabbing well and are “on schedule” in terms of that. On White specifically, McDermott said he’s in Orchard Park daily getting after it. Love to see that.
D-line status quo
Bills rookie Greg Rousseau
The Bills’ defensive line had a bit of an up-and-down 2021 season. Overall, Buffalo had 42 sacks as a team.
That’s a bit behind the NFL leaders, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had 55. But it’s nowhere close to the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. Those two finished at the bottom of the league with 18 and 29 sacks, respectively.
Could the Bills improve on this middle of the pack number they put up? Sure, but as of now McDermott doesn’t sound like this upcoming offseason will involve major additions to the defensive line which has been the case for a few years now.
“All season long we had some depth we could pull from which was important, that’s a position that tends to get banged up,” McDermott said.
“But we’ve really got to develop some of those young players,” the coach added. “That will be a goal of ours.”
With top picks from recent years in Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham and AJ Epenesa in the fold, that’s unsurprising as well.
Defensive speed
Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill
Speaking of the defensive line comments, last offseason the Bills were pretty open about their plan. The D-line did not get it done against the Chiefs so improvement was needed there. Considering that, what’s the plan this spring?
Per McDermott, improving defensive speed might be the next move.
“I think that’s a valid point. (The Chiefs’ speed) is unique,” McDermott said. “They got a lot of guys that can fly. It does impact the game.”
QB 'peace of mind'
Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills . (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
While the Bills are not a finished product in terms of their entire roster, it’s hard to argue they aren’t at quarterback. After Allen put up the game he did on Sunday, he might be a top-three QB in the NFL.
However, it’s a lot easier said than done to find that piece for your team. McDermott has found it and he’s grateful.
“(Allen has) answered all those questions [about him]. And I’m extremely proud of what he’s been able to do this past season,” McDermott said. “Just because you have the guy doesn’t mean that you’re going to get there but having that guy is hard to find.”
“A lot of GMs, a lot of teams search high and low for ‘that guy’ and I believe without a shadow of a doubt that we have that guy,” McDermott added.
1
1
