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When a coach makes a move like Sean McDermott did this past week, there are some unknowns.
Firing a coordinator in-season ostensibly can look like a lot of things, but the hard reality of it in the aftermath of the headlines is that it rocks the day-to-day life of half of a 53-man roster. And to do that on a short week—such as McDermott did in dismissing offensive play-caller Ken Dorsey on Tuesday after a Monday night game—and elevating quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, only makes it more of a dice roll.
So you may, along the way, be looking for signs that things are going one way or the other, and McDermott got one from a place you might not expect deep in Sunday’s AFC East showdown with the Jets. His star receiver and captain, Stefon Diggs, was in the midst of a four-catch, 27-yard afternoon.
Meanwhile, his head was right where it needed to be, and it didn’t go unnoticed by someone who could hear that a lot better than he could see it during the game.
“He supported the team; he supported the plan,” McDermott told me from his coach’s office under Highmark Stadium an hour after the game. “He knew it was going to be tough. They got good corners and they always have all eyes on Stef. Having said all that, Stef still wins a few of those more than he loses. And that’s why he is who he is and what he is to our team and to our offense.
“But his leadership was felt in all three phases tonight. From what I remember, listen, I’m focused on the defense and the special teams—I could hear him over my shoulder cheering his teammates on. And that doesn’t happen all the time. I’m really seeing him grow as a leader, and it’s helping our football team.”
Yeah, that’s a small thing. But it sure could loom large as a team that seemed to be lost looking to regain its way may have found it on the last Sunday before Thanksgiving in chilly Western New York.
While the Bills’ 32–6 dismantling of the Jets was one game, McDermott did emphasize to me as we talked that the alternative would’ve been ugly. Simply put, Buffalo couldn’t afford to lose again to a New York team that has vexed it the past couple of years—Josh Allen got hurt in an upset loss in New Jersey last December, and the Bills fell in overtime on a punt return in this year’s opener Aaron Rodgers went down—after the last week.
It would’ve put the Bills at 5–6, three games back of Miami in the loss column, with the Eagles, Chiefs and Cowboys next. It’s not overstating to say it could’ve ended their season.
Instead, Allen, Brady, McDermott and Buffalo can move forward.
And as McDermott’s anecdote would illustrate, the Bills can do it together, with a group of players that may not have many more shots at the championship they’ve been chasing.
