It didn’t get much notice because it happened two weeks ago this morning, shortly after midnight.
Following a galling 14-10 Monday night loss to the Patriots at Highmark Stadium, Bills coach Sean McDermott took his time before addressing the media … as in well past the NFL’s mandated 10-minute cooling off period.
He was so late, newspapers with early deadlines totally missed his postgame press conference … by a lot.
Hence, McDermott’s comment about New England coach Bill Belichick went under-reported in both the print and broadcast media.
Clearly, Buffalo’s fifth-year boss was fuming that his team managed to lose a game in which Patriots quarterback Mac Jones threw only three — 3! — passes while New England’s running backs burned the game clock with 41 carries for 225 yards … even though the Bills knew what was coming.
What really galled McDermott was that Buffalo made four trips into the Pats red zone and generated a touchdown, two field goal attempts (one made, one missed) and saw the potential game-winning possession end in a knocked down pass at the two-minute warning.
IN THE course of his presser, McDermott was asked about the psychological component of coaching against Belichick.
And that clearly touched a nerve.
“Let’s not give more credit than we need to give credit to Bill Belichick … it’s not a Bill Belichick type thing, it’s what are you doing with the opportunities you got?” McDermott responded with a bit of an edge.
This man is hardly a fool and the last thing he’s going to do is take a shot at the most decorated coach in NFL history.
Clearly, McDermott was frustrated that his team had wasted its opportunity at a critical division victory and wasn’t attacking Belichick’s considerable resume.
Still, it could be argued that it was the New England coach’s defensive scheme that held Buffalo’s offense in check to go with an offensive game plan the Bills ‘D’ couldn’t get off the field.
Understandably, to most observers, New England’s triumph did have the scent of a “coaching” triumph.
In any case, McDermott’s comments did not play well with the Patriots’ faithful and were not forgotten.
Indeed, during his Monday Zoom call, the Bills head man was questioned about that exchange by a Boston reporter.
In explaining his outburst, McDermott noted, “One hundred percent (it was about) where we fell short, where we could have done better. I have 100 percent respect for coach Belichick and (that comment) was just focused on us.”
AND ON THE matter of respect, McDermott had made that clear days before the Monday night game.
“I have a lot of respect for what he does and goes about it,” MeDermott told the Bills media of Belichick. “He’s won a lot of games for a reason. He’s one of the best, if not the best, to ever coach. I think there’s a lot of coaches out there that try and study how (he does) things.
“You can see the blueprint that Bill leaves on the team. I never worked with him, but just on the outside looking in.”
However, he also added, “Number 1, (this game is) going to be decided by the players more than anything. Bill has x-amount of years experience as a head coach, many more than I do. So, at the end of the day, there’s a lot of experience and wisdom (that Belichick has) and I’m just hoping to grow and learn (from it).”
And on that December night he apparently did.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
