(This is the second of a two-part series on Bills’ coach Sean McDermott’s season-ending press conference)
By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
In his season-ending press conference last month, Bills’ coasch Sean McDermott spoke a bit of time talking about the team’s goals and its failure to make/win the Super Bowl:
“NO ONE in this building, myself included, is comfortable or content with where we’re at,” he said. “We continue every year to start from scratch to put a team together, develop a team, get everyone to be on the same page and put us in a position to win in the playoffs. If you look at the last two years against a really good football team that is the two-time defending Super Bowl champs, we had the ball with a chance to win, down three.
“It didn’t happen and I don’t think there’s any consolation in that, but perspective is important as it relates to where we are as a team and an organization. Are we giving ourselves a chance to win, are we putting ourselves in a position? We were in a position … we got there, the last two years, to win those games.”
McDermott continued, “On the last drive of (those games) we came up short and we have to figure out why … when we have the ball in a position to tie or win the game. We weren’t able to get it done.
Defensively, we have to perform better than we did … and that’s real. We’re very aware of where we are in place and time and where our team is. But you feel good about the day-to-day and the methodology of what we’re doing.. Does that mean you’re completely comfortable with where we’re at and where we want to get to? No, not at all.”
He admitted, “I start with myself right after the game, ‘What could I have done better?’ But overall, we don’t want to overlook the success we’ve experienced. We’ve won some big games … you tell me what isn’t a big game in the NFL anymore.
(We beast) Baltimore, coached by John Harbaugh, who has also won a Super Bowl, and we beat a Super Bowl-winning coach in Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos, a good football team, the same as Baltimore.”
McDermott insisted, “There’s a lot of success in a lot of big games … what’s left is to win a World Championship, which is a lofty goal but one we pursue relentlessly. I’m really confident in the people we have behind these walls and you look at what we’ve been able to do.
“Some semblance of history is a pretty good indicator of what could happen in the future. One of the things we’ve been able to do is not only (ending) the 17-year (playoff) drought in the first year. But one of the other things we’ve been able to do is sustain success which is very difficult to (accomplish). There are a lot of teams that get to the AFC Championship Game, let’s say, but they’re never to be heard from again. I’d rather be in the position we’re continuing knocking on the door.”
He admitted, “I don’t do well sitting on the edge saying, ‘Well, it was a good season,’ slap everybody on the back and saying ‘We’ll get ’em next year.’ That’s the last thing we’re about. Buy I’m confident in who we are and that over the years we’ve developed players who have usually played better here than elsewhere (college or pros). I think that’s huge. (We) can take a team this year that lost a number of leaders (six of eight captains) and players who were significant in our journey to this point and making an impact. We formed a team and were able to win at a level that you’re getting to the AFC Championship[ Game, which is hard.
He added, “But if you keep doing the right thing, eventually that door will open. I worked for a guy (Andy Reid in Philadelphia) and he experienced something similar and now he’s in the position that he’s in (bidding for three straight Super Bowl victories).”
But McDermott is not building a team to beat the Chiefs, who have knocked Buffalo from the playoffs three of the last four years.
“You never want to build your team to beat one team because, in fairness to the Chiefs, you don’t know whether it’s going to be them every year … though it has been them (recently),” he said.”They’re well-coached, they don’t beat themselves, they’ve got some star-level players and you have to be at your best to beat them … and we weren’t.
“To me, though, I don’t look at it like it’s this one team … it’s how do we put a team together against every team that shows up and coach at a level that we can beat them. Are we Super Bowl equivalent in every area that we’re operating in (coaches, players, training staff, weight room).”
McDERMOTT was asked whether the Bills should be looking for a No. 1 pass receiver or an elite edge rusher to take that step.
“I think No. 1’s (top level players) are great … but they’re hard to find,” he pointed out. “Let’s just say ‘difference-makers’ … difference-making players overall. But you have to have a certain element of team in those players and they’re out there … difference-makers are out there, you’ve just got to find them. But that blend of difference-maker, super-talented, Top 1 to 5 in the position also have to have at least a certain amount of the make-up where, ‘Hey, this is about the team.’ That blend is critical.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
