In one on the San Francisco 49ers at home in Orchard Park, HC Sean McDermott's record from the bye week and the looked like a playoff contender.
The team won its fifth consecutive AFC East title, becoming only the eighth team in NFL history to secure a division title despite having five games remaining in the regular season.
The club has scored 30 or more points in six straight games and has since won seven straight since suffering back-to-back losses to Baltimore and Houston to start the season.
The Bills punched their ticket to the postseason and head coach Sean McDermott was celebratory as he was interviewed on the field by ESPN's Scott Van Pelt after the win Sports center.
When quarterback Josh Allen surprised him by walking up to him and saying “Coach of the Year” into the microphone, McDermott replied, “I want to see an angel, a snow angel.” Come on. Let's go.”
Just some snow angels from Sean McDermott and Josh Allen chatting
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg)
Allen happily came to meet him and spent a nice moment with his trainer.
“He’s the one who made me do this.” for the press aftermath. “I was just trying to give him some flowers. He was on live TV and every time the coach asks you to do something, you do it. I am a good soldier. I'm not the biggest Snow Angel fan because you get cold down there. My toes are freezing right now. I’m just trying to get in the shower, but it was fun.”
McDermott made good on a halftime tackle from backup tight end Zach Davidson.
“We were coming through the tunnel at halftime and Zach Davidson tapped me on the hip and said, 'Hey, if we win this game, you're going to have to make a snow angel.' I said, 'Okay, you got it'” . “I think I kept my promise.”
By winning their division, the Bills are now guaranteed a home playoff game in Buffalo, although McDermott and the team's record are only a week off, another game could be on the way, as well as more home games in the postseason.
Next, the players and coaching staff will turn their focus to road games against the Rams and Lions for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and a first-round bye.
Given the heartache the Bills and their fans have endured at home in the divisional round of the playoffs the last two seasons, McDermott knows all too well what a bye and a win would mean for a return to the AFC Championship.
“I think this is this place that's slowly becoming a place around the NFL now that people are coming and seeing this and saying, 'I want to be a part of this.'”
