Sean McDermott took over as head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2017 and has established himself as one of the top head coaches in the league in his seventh year with the team.
McDermott got the attention of the team’s long-suffering fans when he led the Bills to playoff appearances in his first season and again in his third year – they lost Wild Card Games both years – but it was his fourth season when he elevated himself to somewhat exalted status with Bills Mafia.
The Bills finished with a 13-3 record in 2020 and finished in first place, wresting the division title from Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. While this was recognized as a great achievement around the league, it was viewed with even greater significance in Buffalo given the Patriots had tortured the Bills for years.
Buffalo had a record of 4-34 against the Patriots since the second meeting of the 2000 season before the Bills swept the season series in 2020. Since then, they have beaten the Patriots in four of five games, including a 47-17 devastation when the two teams met in the 2021 postseason.
Storm brewing in Miami
The Bills have since become an elite AFC team along with the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals, but that stature is anything but secure going forward. There is a major challenge at hand coming from the Miami Dolphins, a team that has risen to the top of many power rankings because of an unstoppable offense.
The Bills host the Dolphins on Sunday, and while this is the game of the week in the NFL, the more significant meeting will take place in the final week of the season in Miami. The division title and playoff seedings are likely to be at stake in that game.
This is not to diminish the importance of the initial meeting between these two teams. The Dolphins are flying high right now after putting 70 points on the board, so Buffalo's defense will be under the gun.
McDermott has taken over for the departed Leslie Frazier when it comes to calling defensive plays for the Bills. He has been in this position before because he called defensive signals for the Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers.
Buffalo is coming off a sensational defensive effort against the Washington Commanders. The Bills registered 9.0 sacks and four interceptions in the 37-3 victory, including a 32-yard pick-6 by defensive end A.J. Epenesa. However, the Commanders are not the Dolphins, and the defense will be tested as it has not been since last season’s 27-10 playoff loss to the Bengals.
The Dolphins are coming, and the heat is now on Sean McDermott and his players. The test will come in two parts: How will Buffalo handle the hottest offense in the league that is performing at peak efficiency? Can they do anything to combat Tua Tagovailoa’s accuracy and Miami’s speed?
More than that, if the Dolphins get the best of the Bills in this early-season game, can McDermott get his team back on track as the season progresses? No matter what happens in this game, the Dolphins will not join their 1972 predecessors and go undefeated this season. They will come back to earth at some point.
If McDermott and the Bills can avoid panic if they lose or not get too full of themselves if they win, the head coach may have a chance to have his best season. If not, they will surrender the division to the team from South Florida.
Sean Payton may run out of rope in Denver
The first season of the Sean Payton regime in Denver has been quite a revelation. He was a strong leader during his 15 years as head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2006 through 2021, and he was ready to get back to work when he took the coaching job with the Broncos at the start of the last offseason.
It seemed to be a major upgrade for the Broncos after the disastrous non-leadership of Nathaniel Hackett. An experienced, Super Bowl-winning head coach who had taken his team to the postseason nine times would surely get the Broncos back on track and organized in his first season with the team.
The Denver version of Payton appears nothing like the New Orleans version. Instead of a calm, strong leader who could play the NFL chess game without a hint of panic, Payton no longer seems capable of anticipating his opponent’s next move or the proper counter from his players.
It started this summer when he took a shot at Hackett, saying that the coaching job the Broncos received the previous season was one of the worst in NFL history.
Strange change of tactics
Perhaps he was just trying to take the pressure off quarterback Russell Wilson, who received almost as much blame as Hackett. Payton made a point of saying that Wilson’s problems were largely the result of the poor coaching the Broncos received last year.
“There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”
Hackett was not around in Week 3 when the Broncos gave up 70 points and 726 yards to the Dolphins. Miami had seven TD drives of 75 yards or more. That’s on Payton and his coaching staff.
While the season is not over, Payton is clearly on edge and this is not a pleasant week to be a Bronco. Nearly every player and coach on Payton’s staff will have their feet to the fire as they prepare for their Week 4 game at Chicago against the hapless Bears.
Suddenly, Payton has lost his cool as a coach in a way he never did with the Saints. Of course, he had a brilliant leader and quarterback in Drew Brees running the show, and now he has the aging Wilson. Payton insists that Wilson is still viable, but he may be fooling himself.
Perhaps he knows that Wilson is no longer the remarkable quarterback who won so many games with the Seahawks and just doesn’t want to admit it. If that’s the case, the coaching change the Broncos made is not going to provide much of a difference this season and a last-place finish in the AFC West beckons.
Tomlin continues to push the Steelers forward
While coaches like Payton, Kevin O’Connell and Matt Eberflus are having a difficult time keeping their teams together, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin continues to show why he is one of the best leaders in the business.
The Steelers were brutally outplayed in their opener by the San Francisco 49ers and suffered a 30-7 defeat on their home field that could have been much worse. Tomlin did not sugarcoat his message after the game, saying his team “got kicked in the teeth.”
Not only did the Steelers lose the game, longtime defensive stalwart Cam Heyward suffered a groin injury and was not able to play in either of the next two games.
Additionally, second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett looked overwhelmed against the San Francisco pass rush and the Steelers' running game was nearly invisible.
Keeping it together
Instead of falling apart after the loss, the Steelers have rebounded with back-to-back wins over the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders. Pittsburgh was far from perfect in either game, but Tomlin engaged his team’s competitive instincts and that allowed them to come through with close victories.
There was no miracle turnaround – the Steelers just outworked the way they played in the opener. The offense was quite inefficient against the Browns, but the defense picked up the effort and Pickett threw a 71-yard TD pass to George Pickens that gave the offense some life.
There was improvement against the Raiders in both the passing and the running game. Pickett completed 16-of-28 passes for 235 yards and a pair of TDs, while Najee Harris gave them just enough on the ground by gaining 65 yards. T.J. Watt led the Steelers on defense with 2.0 sacks.
This is far from a finished product, but the Steelers are getting better week by week. They have learned how to win in situations that would take other teams down. Tomlin knows how to avoid losing streaks and almost always gives his team a chance to stay competitive.
This and that …
— C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 pick in last spring’s draft, is making great progress. The former Ohio State star threw for 280 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in Houston's 37-17 triumph over the favored Jaguars. He has passed for 906 yards thus far, putting him in rare company as only two other quarterbacks have reached that level after three games.
— Many expected the Detroit Lions to become the team to beat in the NFC North this season because of their offensive firepower. The skill position trio of Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs has looked good, but it is the defensive improvement that has allowed the Lions to get off to a 2-1 start. They held the Falcons to 183 yards and registered 7.0 sacks in a 20-6 triumph in Week 3. The team that ranked dead last in yards allowed last year is giving up 297.3 yards per game, ranking 11th in the league.
— The Browns are also 2-1, and defense is the key to that start. Cleveland is at the top of the rankings, allowing just 163.7 yards and 10.7 points per game. If Deshaun Watson can pick it up where he left off in the Week 3 victory over Tennessee – he was 27-of-33 for 289 yards with two touchdowns – head coach Kevin Stefanski’s team may find its way to the playoffs.
Steve Silverman has been covering the NFL for more than 35 years, and his writing has appeared in ESPN Magazine, Playboy, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Pro Football Weekly, and several other publications. He has written six NFL-related books, including “Who's Better, Who's Best in the NFL.” His writing has been recognized for multiple awards by the Pro Football Writers of America.
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