Sean McDermott’s angry Bills outburst before being fired
The Buffalo Bills have moved to sack Sean McDermott, who went out with a bang.
When Sean McDermott stood in front of reporters after the Buffalo Bills’ fatal playoff defeat to the Denver Broncos, most observers thought he was simply airing the pain that comes with postseason elimination. What he said that night, however, would become his final mark as the Bills’ head coach. He was fired the following day.
Buffalo’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion in the AFC divisional round, a 33-30 overtime loss that hinged on a moment no one saw resolved on the field. With the game hanging in the balance, Bills receiver Brandin Cooks appeared to haul in a deep pass, only for Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian to wrestle the ball away before the play was whistled dead.
The officials ruled it an interception without a full on-field review under the league’s replay system, leaving McDermott seething.
“That play is not even close. That’s a catch all the way ... and nobody can convince me that that ball is not caught and in possession of Buffalo,” McDermott said after his postgame news conference. “I just have no idea how the NFL handled it, in particular, the way that they did. I think the players and the fans deserve an explanation, you know?”
McDermott added he was “pissed off about it”, saying “I don’t understand why the head official who is at the game does not get a chance to look at the same thing people in New York are ruling on."
“Too big of a play in a play that decided the game, potentially, as well, to not even slow it down,” McDermott said in reference of the officials. “That’s why I had to call the timeout. It’s not what I wanted to do, but I had to do it in order to make sure that I understood what was going on and that they did take a look at it.”
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“I’m saying it because I’m standing up for Buffalo, damn it. I’m standing up for us,” he said. “What went on, that is not how it should go down in my estimation. These guys spend three hours out there playing football, pouring their guts out to not even say, ‘Hey, let’s just slow this thing down.’ That’s why I’m bothered.”
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