The Buffalo Bills fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday as several controversial calls went in favor of the Chiefs. But it sounds like Bills head coach Sean McDermott was expecting that.
During his end-of-season press conference on Thursday, Sean McDermott did not hold back as he made it clear that given the opponent, he knew that his team was not going to get favorable calls from the referees.
“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 said according to Pro Football Talk. “We’re not going to get calls. And I think just when you prepare a team, you prepare them ahead of time, mentally, for this is the way it’s going down. And you live with that.”
That said, McDermott went on to admit that the unfavorable calls were not the primary reason why the team lost to the Chiefs.
“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 continued.
There was one particular call that McDermott seemed to disagree with.
During the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, quarterback Josh Allen was ruled short on a crucial fourth-and-1 play even though it appeared to many that he got the first down.
During his postgame press conference, McDermott himself said that he felt Allen got the first down.
“I thought he had it,” McDermott said after the game. “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, all the Bills can do is focus on next season.
