Bills Coach Sean McDermott Still Defends Damar Hamlin Fake Punt vs. Chiefs
If Sean McDermott could do it all over again, he'd do it all over again.
Until his Buffalo Bills finally capture that elusive Vince Lombardi Trophy, McDermott will likely be dogged by questions about his ill-advised decision to run a fake punt (a direct snap to Damar Hamlin that netted two years when the Bills needed five) from his own 30-yard-line during the latter stages of the AFC Divisional playoffs.
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“Had I not faked that punt, with what I knew going into that situation, it would have been a failure had I not tried,” McDermott said, per Tim Graham of The Athletic. “I would have gone home that night saying, ‘What would have happened had I faked that punt?’ It didn’t work out that specific situation, in that particular moment, but I need to do everything I can to help our team win.”
While a timely takeaway by way of Jordan Poyer's forced fumble limited the damages, the choice came to define Buffalo's latest postseason heartbreaker, a 27-24 defeat to the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs.
An expansive sitdown with Graham allowed McDermott to further justify his decision, as he reasoned it was part of his relentless pursuit of a Super Bowl, which still stands as one of the few accolades the franchise has yet to earn since he took over the top headset in 2017.
With a little job security on his side (he and general manager Brandon Beane are signed through 2027), McDermott spoke about the Bills' recent Super Bowl denials, which have featured increasing levels of drama: of the six playoff defeats in the McDermott era, two have gone to overtime and four have come by a one-possession margin. Such recollections came with confidence that a Lombardi Trophy hoist is a matter of when, not if
If McDermott needs to make a few questionable decisions in the effort to touch football's most valuable piece of silver, so be it.
“Protect the team and give it the best chance to win, that’s my No. 1 goal,” McDermott told Graham. “My job is to do everything that I can to help this organization win and do what we haven’t done yet, which is win an AFC championship and a Super Bowl.”
