The Buffalo Bills were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, with several controversial calls favoring the Chiefs. Bills head coach Sean McDermott seemed to anticipate this outcome. During his end-of-season press conference on Thursday, he candidly expressed his belief that, given their opponent, favorable calls from the referees were unlikely. “We went into the game and one of my messages to the team, and this happens from time to time, is you’re going to have to — you’re not going to get calls,” McDermott stated according to Pro Football Talk. He emphasized the importance of preparing the team mentally: “We’re not going to get calls… you live with that.”
That said, McDermott acknowledged that the unfavorable calls were not the main reason for the team’s defeat. “That’s not the reason why we lost. You start looking at that, you lose sight of all the things, all the adjustments you can make as a team, or as a person, coach, player, what have you to improve who we are and how we do things. So, there’s going to be some of that, and you have to be able to be above that and play above that,” he explained.
However, one specific call drew McDermott’s disagreement. In the fourth quarter, quarterback Josh Allen was ruled short on a pivotal fourth-and-1 play, despite many believing he had secured the first down. McDermott expressed his thoughts on the matter during his postgame press conference, saying, “I thought he had it. Just short of the line was actually the first down, what it looked like to me when it was sitting next to me with the marker. Just inside that white stripe was the first down. And it looked like he got to it. That’s all I can say.”
Now, the Bills must shift their focus to the next season.
