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Buffalo Bills HC has interesting comments on officiating

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Jan 31, 2025 6:48 PM ET

The Buffalo Bills spent this week going through exit interviews and saying goodbye to players and staff who might not be back in 2025. Packing up at the end of January is what happens to the two teams that lose a conference championship.

Unlike the Washington Commanders, who were blown out, the Bills are dealing with the heartache of continuing to fall short in the playoffs and continuing to do so against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Since 2020, the Bills are 0-4 against the Chiefs in the playoffs.

The Bills had an opportunity to win Sunday before falling 32-29 to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Buffalo trailed late in the fourth quarter, and a few questionable calls went Kansas City’s way. (But, hey, that happened to the Commanders too.)

During his end-of-season news conference on Thursday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott discussed officiating.

“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 via the Bills’ YouTube page. “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’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.”

Josh Allen needed to be better

McDermott is right about one thing. The Bills didn’t lose because of the officiating. Buffalo could have advanced if Josh Allen didn’t lose his composure at the end of the game, and steadied his offense like Patrick Mahomes did the drive before.

Maybe Allen wouldn’t have had to deal with that pressure had the officials handed the Bills more favorable calls.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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