Bills’ Sean McDermott bows down to Bill Belichick after beating Patriots

Even when the New England Patriots come up short, the conversation stays spotlit on them. This isn’t quite the olden days of the AFC East where the Pats were able to waltz to the division title by Week 6, but that hasn’t changed the fact that New England and Bill Belichick remain the measuring stick for the other three teams.

Have a shot at the division? Well, you’d better go through the Patriots. Need a late-season win in Foxborough? Well, best of luck — it’s still the toughest environment in the conference, save for potentially Kansas City.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott probably wasn’t able to exhale until the final whistle sounded Sunday evening, especially after he found his team “humiliated” in a run-only showdown on his home turf a few weeks back. Despite dominating the game nearly from start to finish — he never punted once! — this contest was still somewhat up for grabs deep into the fourth quarter.

When he finally secured the victory and leapfrogged New England in the race for the East, McDermott was extremely complimentary of Belichick on the other sideline, acknowledging that the GOAT’s role as the gold standard has furthered his rise as well.

Patriots HC Bill Belichick is still making Bills HC Sean McDermott better.

The last time these two teams faced off, McDermott exited the showdown emasculated. He’d just lost to a rookie quarterback who only threw the ball three times. Weighed down by the burden of preseason expectations and toting the hottest young QB in the east, the 47-year-old head coach had come up woefully short, only to see their season further crumble against the Buccaneers in overtime the very next week.

And now, just like that, two weeks later, the division has flipped again. We’re not sure we’d be here if not for the flame that Week 13 lit within McDermott, and we’re certainly not here without the Patriots acting as a two-decade measuring stick.

Without all of Belichick’s banked history of genius, would beating a rookie QB in late December as a heavy preseason favorite really feel this good?

Belichick showed in the aftermath that the respect was mutual, hugging a dominant Josh Allen on the field for far longer than expected. The Patriots gave him their very best, and he solved it at every turn.

The “changing of the guard” in the AFC East will not take place in full until Belichick steps down and hands the keys to the next generation. That we now know, after watching his lightning-fast rebuild bring the Patriots once again to the top of the race in 2022.

McDermott clearly isn’t ready for Belichick to leave, either. How, then, will he sharpen his coaching knife?

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