Bills HC Sean McDermott downplays Bill Belichick's impact in loss to Patriots
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was in a rare joking mood Tuesday morning following his team's Week 13 "Monday Night Football" victory over the Buffalo Bills. Opposing head coach Sean McDermott was not.
In fact, whether it was his intention to or not, the Bills lead man took a direct shot at Belichick in his postgame interview.
"Let's not give more credit than we need to give credit to Bill Belichick in this one," McDermott said, per NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "Whether it's Bill or anybody else -- they beat us, right? You sit here and you tell me when we start with an average starting field position at the 40-yard line and he starts at the 23-yard line -- and I'm rounding up in both cases -- and we were 1 for 4 in the red zone, and they were 0 for 1 in the red zone? You give me that ahead of time then I like my chances. I like my chances. So, with all due respect, it's not a Bill Belichick-type thing. It's what are you doing with the opportunities you got? What are you doing with the opportunities you got? We turned the ball over at the plus 30-something yard line. It's sloppy football. It's sloppy football. So, I'm very comfortable in that situation."
Thanks mostly to the extreme wind and snowy conditions in Western New York on Monday night, the offensive strategy for New England was simple -- run the ball down Buffalo's throats. In one of the more bizarre NFL games in recent memory, the Patriots' offense had just three pass attempts, completing two of them.
New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones' final stat line through the air was 2-for-3 for 19 yards with 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The Patriots became the first team to win a contest with fewer than three completions since the Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 in 2011, as Denver's Tim Tebow went 2-for-8 for 69 yards.
The Patriots have a bye in Week 14, while the Bills will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday. New England and Buffalo will play each other again in Week 16.
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