Bills fire Sean McDermott after 9 seasons of falling short of reaching Super Bowl, AP sources say

ORCHARD PARK, New York — The Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott on Monday, two people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.

The move came two days after the Bills were eliminated in a heart-wrenching 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the divisional round of the playoffs. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the moved.

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 seven consecutive years but not reach the Super Bowl.

The 51-year-old McDermott finished with a 98-50 regular-season record and was 8-8 in the playoffs, ranking second on the team list in wins behind Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy (112-70, 11-8). Levy did so over 11 seasons during a tenure that included the Jim Kelly-led team reaching – and losing – four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s.

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.

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.