Buffalo Bills: Sean McDermott deserves immense credit for ascension

After not having a 10-win season or a playoff berth since 1999, Sean McDermott has the Buffalo Bills looking like perennial postseason contenders.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had his second consecutive outing where he struggled in Week 15, going 13-of-25 for just 139 yards and with an interception and only 28 rushing yards. However, he stepped up when it counted, rushing for an early touchdown and throwing the eventual game-winning score in the fourth quarter to top the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10.

With the victory, Sean McDermott‘s Bills moved to 10-4 season and clinched a postseason berth. For many franchise’s — one in Buffalo’s own AFC East in particular — that’s not anything special. But for this one, it’s a testament to the job that the head coach has done since arriving prior to the 2017 season.

Before McDermott was patrolling the sidelines, the Bills had not made the playoffs since 1999. The head coach changed that in his first season, riding Tyrod Taylor and a fiery veteran team to a 9-7 record and a Wild Card spot in the AFC. But in his third year in Buffalo, he again has punched a ticket to the playoffs while also bringing the Bills their first 10-win season since that 1999 campaign.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

Make no mistake, general manager Brandon Beane and the Bills players deserve a ton of credit for this team now having two playoff berths in three years under McDermott. However, this is still a vastly imperfect team with many warts and the fact that they’re succeeding should be to McDermott’s credit.

From the defensive stylings that make Buffalo one of the toughest and stingiest teams to play against in the NFL to the grinding mentality he instills in his team, McDermott has very much embodied the notion of making the best of what you have.

He knows that Allen, though improved in his second year, is still limited as a passer. McDermott is never going to put too much on his plate and only put him in position to make the plays he’s confident in the quarterback making. And at the end of the day, he’s always going to fall back on the strength of his team: the defense.

While it feels like an everyday occurrence that fans and analysts alike are heavily scrutinizing coaching, McDermott deserves the antithesis of that. He has taken a middling franchise and, with the roster still in construction, has led them to the playoffs twice in three years and currently has them in position to still possibly usurp the Patriots in the AFC East.

The next step, of course, would be for McDermott to carry this success in the postseason. But for the job he’s done early on in turning the fortunes in Buffalo, we should probably expect that to come sooner rather than later.