Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott had some personal stakes on the line against the New England Patriots in Week 8. In that 24-21 win for the Bills, it was the first time his team topped the Pats under his leadership.
But along with knowing how to coach ’em up, the coach certainly knows how to tug at the heartstring of his fan base.
Following the game which elevated his team to a 6-2 record while sinking the Patriots to 2-5, McDermott got uncharacteristically deep in his post-game video press conference. To McDermott’s credit, it wasn’t just about the process and other coerced football guy phrases.
“It gets me emotional. All week long we try to go through it one day at time… process, process, process, but we know what this game means to our fan base, just really special. Wish they could have been in the building, honestly, to experience it. It would have been… it would have been cray, I’m sure. Hopefully everyone at home enjoyed it,” McDermott said.
Certainly things are different for the Patriots in 2020, as are many things in life. But McDermott clearly could feel how much such a win would mean to folks around western New York.
And of all the players that could’ve echoed the importance of the win to the region, it’s defensive end Jerry Hughes. The longest-tenured player on the roster said getting that win for McDermott, the first one against New England and their coach Bill Belichick, was overdue. But Hughes naturally had his own reasonings for feeling good… but can you blame him? It was only the third time in 17 tries that he came out as a winner.
“Man, that was fun. It was a fun game today. It was fun to go out there and play Buffalo Bills football,” Hughes said via video conference. “Four quarters of smash-mouth football.”
“It feels good to be on the other side of the spectrum,” Hughes added. “To see our offense hit that victory formation… it felt amazing. Coach always talks about having the championship mindset, so when we took the field, our goal was to force a turnover. We said it when we go tin that huddle, we said we’ve got to find a way to force a turnover to help our team.”
Of course that turnover was the fumble that defensive lineman Justin Zimmer forced on New England quarterback Cam Newton at the end of the game to seal it. Hughes might not have had his hand on the ball personally on that occasion, but contributing a sack and just being out there to help his team secure the W isplenty enough for him.
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