Sean McDermott did something no other Bills coach has ever done before on Sunday.
No, it wasn’t getting booed off the field at halftime. That’s happened in the past, but no other coach has ever won his first three home games as the head man in Buffalo. McDermott did that on Sunday when the team finished a rollercoaster affair with the Buccaneers with a Steven Hauschka field goal that provided the final margin in a 30-27 victory.
McDermott said after the game that it is “like heaven” playing in front of the crowd in Buffalo and that he thought Sunday’s win was a good representation of the town.
“I thought there’s a lot of heart on this football team,” McDermott said, via NewYorkUpstate.com. “Really, to me, personifies this city, doesn’t it? Heart, toughness, blue-collar, and fans stuck with us all day. I thought it was awesome, man. Awesome. It’s tough to win in this league. Every week it’s tight. Every week is tight. Guys stuck it out, played four quarters and came out with a win, so it was good to see.”
Had the Bills lost by three points, it probably would have felt like the opposite of heaven for McDermott. The Bills bungled a chance to kick a field goal before halftime when time ran out after a short completion to Jordan Matthews. That led to boos as the team went to the locker room and a mea culpa from the coach after the game.
“That was my fault,” McDermott said. “That was all my fault. I thought we could get three plays off right there, meaning a completion or a shot [at the end zone], and then a spike after that. We’ll go back and work on that. That’s all my fault.”
The points wound up being there for the Bills and McDermott will get a chance to make it four straight home wins against the Raiders next Sunday.