Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has heard the whispers about his job security after another failed playoff run, but he remains confident in himself as the Bills coach and as Josh Allen’s guide.
“I’m confident in who I am as Josh’s coach,” McDermott said, via Tim Graham of The Athletic. “I know how to develop players. I’m confident in that and extremely confident Josh is going to develop the best he can, that we’re going to maximize Josh’s potential.”
Allen is coming off of a rather disappointing 2023 campaign in which he threw for 4,306 yards, 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions while completing 66.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating 92.2. He also rushed for 524 yards and 15 scores.
McDermott still remembers when Buffalo initially drafted Allen and not only thinking that he would be a terrific player, but that his character spoke volumes.
“With Josh, some of my [pre-draft evaluation] on him was, through a defensive lens: This is going to be hard to defend,” McDermott said. “But it’s also about who the guy is as a person. Who fits Buffalo the best? Not only the weather and his hand size, but who fits the fabric of Buffalo the best?”
The Bills have certainly experienced success since taking Allen with the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, as they have made five straight trips to the playoffs.
However, Buffalo has only made the AFC Championship Game once during that span. Most recently, the Bills fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, marking the third time Buffalo has lost to the Chiefs in the postseason over the last four years.
The Bills were 6-6 at one point in 2023 but proceeded to win their last five regular-season games to come away with their fourth straight AFC East division title in improbable fashion.
But Sean McDermott, Josh Allen and Co. have still been unable to figure out Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in January.
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