McDermott: Bills don't need to 'start over'

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott doesn't believe his team needs to start from scratch after another disappointing playoff exit.

"This is not a situation where you strip it down to the studs and start over," McDermott told reporters Tuesday, including Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic.

The Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday after Tyler Bass' game-tying field-goal attempt with less than two minutes left sailed wide right. Buffalo has won 11-plus games in each of its last three seasons but hasn't advanced past the divisional round in that span.

While the Bills have made the playoffs in six of the seven campaigns under McDermott, the coach has only one AFC Championship Game appearance on his resume.

When asked how he can get his team to advance further to validate the postseason trips, McDermott responded, "That's what I go to bed thinking about," according to NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano.

Buffalo's kryptonite in the playoffs has been Kansas City. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes owns a 3-0 postseason record against the Bills, including an AFC title game win in 2020 and a thrilling come-from-behind rally in 2021.

Despite the lack of wins against their nemesis, McDermott said he believes the Bills aren't far off from the Chiefs, who have appeared in six conference title games and three Super Bowls with Mahomes.

"When we first met (the Chiefs) in playoffs, we weren't close. Now we are close," McDermott said, according to Chris Brown of OneBillsLive. "We have to find a way to pull past them. It starts with having a mindset where we are going for it. Playing to win and go for it."

Bills quarterback Josh Allen made similar comments as his coach Monday, saying he believes the team's Super Bowl window is still open.

"We're disappointed, yes," McDermott said, per Buscaglia. "But we're not broken."