The Buffalo Bills’ heartbreak began last Saturday night when Brandin Cooks went up to catch a deep shot from Josh Allen in overtime. He didn’t come away with the ball, Ja'Quan McMillian did, and the officials ruled it an interception.
The controversial call is in the record books, but despite its role in the Bills’ loss, the controversy did not save Sean McDermott’s job as head coach.
On Wednesday, owner Terry Pegula clarified his reasoning behind firing McDermott. But in doing so, he made it seem as though that one play determined Buffalo’s offseason fate more than any other.
Bills owner Terry Pegula’s comments undercut the logic behind Sean McDermott’s firing
“My decision to bring in a new coach was based on the results of our game in Denver,” Pegula said in his opening statement. He went on to say that he told quarterback Josh Allen in the locker room after the game that he believed ‘That was a catch.’
Naturally, that one phrase shows that had it been ruled a catch, then it stands to reason that McDermott would likely still be the Bills' head coach.
“I did not fire a coach based on a bad officiating decision," he clarified. "If I can take you into that locker room, I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall year after year. 13 seconds. Missed field goals. The catch. So, I just sensed, ‘Where do we go from here, with what we have.’ And that was the basis for my decision.”
Pegula has an overarching point about how the seasons have ended in recent years. That’s where Bills Mafia agrees with him. But that point struggles to stand upright when the owner also believes that his former coach should still be coaching his team if the officials didn’t make the call as they did.
While yes, other plays would have had to happen in the Bills favor if the Cooks catch was called in Buffalo’s favor. It wasn’t a game-winning play either way. It was McDermott’s defense that allowed Bo Nix and the Broncos to get into scoring position after the interception, after all.
But that doesn’t detract from the fact that the play in question would have put the Bills in scoring position with an excellent chance to seal the game with the best quarterback in the league orchestrating the moment. Bills fans, just like Pegula seems to be, are as convinced as anyone that if Cooks makes that play, the Bills are playing the Patriots this Sunday for the right to go to Super Bowl LX.