Super Bowl LX failure or Josh Allen -- Check real reason behind Buffalo Bills sacking NFL coach Sean McDermott after 9 seasons

Buffalo Bills fired coach Sean McDermott on Monday after the NFL side had failed to reach Super Bowl LX at Santa Clara, California. 51-year-old McDermott went with eight additional playoff wins and eight losses in nine seasons as coach of ‌the Bills. His ‌final game was another playoff heartbreaker, losing 33-30 in ‌overtime at Denver on Saturday in the divisional play off. It was the fourth ‌playoff loss ‍since 2022 in which the Bills ‍lost despite leading in the fourth quarter. Now the social media is abuzz with what could be the real reason behind the drastic move.

Josh Allen

McDermott’s failure to reach the Super Bowl with Josh Allen at quarterback became his undoing. Though Allen has broken many of Kelly’s passing and scoring records, the Bills have advanced to the AFC championship game just twice — and lost both times to Kansas City — during a team-record seven-year playoff run.


McDermott and quarterback Josh Allen have not reached a Super Bowl but held the lead in the fourth quarter against the ​Broncos in the divisional playoff defeat ​on Saturday. It was the fourth ‌playoff loss ‍since 2022 in which the Bills ‍lost despite leading in the fourth quarter.

Allen ‌has the most career wins (eight) and starts (15) in the playoffs by any quarterback who has never started in the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Failure

McDermott’s tenure ends after nine seasons in which he transformed the franchise into a perennial winner but was knocked for failing to make a Super Bowl appearance. Buffalo became the NFL’s first team to win a playoff round in six consecutive years but not reach the Super Bowl.

Buffalo’s last three playoff losses have all been decided by three points. And three of McDermott’s playoff losses ended in overtime.

That includes a 42-36 loss to Kansas City in the 2021 divisional round that’s become dubbed “13 seconds" — the amount of time Patrick Mahomes had to complete two passes for 44 yards and set up Harrison Butker’s tying, 49-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.

Despite his playoff inconsistencies, McDermott oversaw a team that won 10 or more regular-season games over seven straight seasons, including two team record-matching 13-win seasons in 2022 and '24.

Buffalo reached the playoffs in eight of McDermott’s nine seasons. That includes 2017, when the Bills sneaked into the postseason on the final day to end a 17-year playoff drought that at the time was the longest active streak in North America’s four major pro sports.


Who will be Buffalo Bills New Coach?


Buffalo Bills became the 10th team to make a coaching change since the ‍end of the 2025 regular season. The New York Giants hired John Harbaugh ‍and Kevin Stefanski ⁠was named ⁠head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, leaving eight vacancies. McDermott led the Bills to five consecutive AFC East titles from 2020-24.

ESPN reported that Buffalo is retaining general manager Brandon Beane, who will lead the search for a new coach as the Bills prepare to debut their new stadium in 2026.