In a rematch of the 2020 conference championship, the Buffalo Bills will go head-to-head against the Kansas City Chiefs on January 26. In their previous game, the Bills scraped 27-25 past the favored Ravens in the divisional round. Just two points difference helped the Bills to enter the conference round. But before Sean McDermott‘s team face the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium, they have to face their poor history against them in the playoffs.

The Bills will fight against the Chiefs for the seventh time in the playoffs, where the latter holds the record of winning four out of the six playoff games. The last time the Bills defeated the Chiefs in the conference round was in the 1993 season. But they lost the Super Bowl against the Cowboys. As history is getting highlighted too much, the Bills head coach Sean McDermott has shared a take on that note. The 50-year-old said, “You know, I don’t know, I wasn’t here, uh, in those years you’re referring to, but I’ll just, I’ll just say from my own experience in the playoffs, you’ve got to play your best football, plain and simple, you got to perform at a level. That allows you to win.” 

Meanwhile, he’s trying to leave the recent disappointments in the past. When he was asked again by another interviewer, “Since these last couple playoff heartbreaks sort of help the team at all, or is that not something you think about at all?”, McDermott rightly said, “Not something I think about at all.”

But one thing the Bills fans must have known is that since 2017, when Sean McDermott became HC, the Bills have never missed a playoff ticket, except for the 2018 season. An outstanding achievement by any HC in the league. More importantly, from 1999 till McDermott’s first year with the franchise, there have been zero playoff appearances. So, the HC has achieved great things. But the conference title and a Super Bowl are two pieces missing from his crown.

Before they even land in the Arrowhead, McDermott has sent a powerful message to Josh Allen and the locker room. Wanna know what’s the message? Let’s dive in!

Sean McDermott’s strong message to the locker room ahead of the Chiefs game

On January 20, when McDermott was at the press conference. And obviously, he was asked about strategy and thought about the upcoming conference game against the Chiefs. And the HC only replied with a demand from the locker room.

McDermott said, “I thought that, you know, the Ravens, give them credit. They played really good defense, stingy defense against us there, and you know, certainly didn’t produce enough points. We had a good driver, too, in the 4th quarter. But, at the end of the day, we got to score points, and that’s what we’re meant to do here.” He just wants to play clean football and win.

Talking about the Flaws in the previous game, Josh Allen also admitted that he “missed a couple of throws.” He made 16 complete passes out of a total of 22 throws in the game, which was a 72.7 CMP%. More importantly, he had only 127 passing yards with 20 more in rushing. So, to make their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season, Allen has to pull up for the Chiefs game. The Chiefs, for their part, are already in good shape.

The upcoming conference game will be their 2nd chance to appear in the Super Bowl after 30 years. It’s also an opportunity to stop the Chiefs from creating history, a three-peat. Let’s see what happens!