The Buffalo Bills are putting the finishing touches on the season that was. In doing so, there’s one thing that separates players and front office members alike from locker cleanout day and freedom from football for a few months in the offseason: A trip to the podium.
On the latter, Bills head coach Sean McDermott concluded his 2020 season on Tuesday by chatting via video conference for about 45 minutes. He reviewed the season that was and previewed some of what the future might hold.
In an effort to pull out some of the more interesting or important things mentioned, here are nine takeaways from McDermott’s end of season presser:
The ‘measuring stick’
Even before the AFC Championship game, McDermott and the entire Bills locker room knew that the game was going to be a measuring stick. So how did they fare? Well they lost 38-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs and it wasn’t even that close.
Upon reflecting, McDermottt said he knows there’s “still a gap” between his team and his mentor’s team in Andy Reid. However, McDermott did make an interesting point in his own defense… of sorts. Reid’s been around Kansas City for double the amount of time McDermott as been in Orchard Park… Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
“They’re in Year 8 and we’re in Year 4,” McDermott said.
And by comparison, McDermott’s been to the playoffs three times in his first fours seasons, the same as Reid had. In that time frame, McDermott has two postseason wins… Reid only had one. Reid also did not win an AFC West division title until that fourth year… sound familiar?
In a sense, McDermott’s ahead of schedule.