Welcome back to The MMQB newsletter. The coaching carousel claimed its latest victim Monday, with the Bills firing Sean McDermott after nine seasons in Buffalo. The move comes after the Bills fell to the Broncos in overtime on Saturday in yet another devastating playoff defeat. Conor Orr chronicles how the firing will impact the head coach hiring cycle and the top candidates for the Buffalo job. Before we dive deeper into the Bills' next moves, let's first zero in on the playoff picture, with four teams left standing—the Rams, Seahawks, Patriots and Broncos—after a consequential weekend slate. Matt Verderame covered the Rams' thrilling win over the Bears, with scenes from frigid Chicago after the victory. Conor Orr unpacked the impressive defensive performances we saw in the divisional round and Greg Bishop wrote about the Seahawks' atypical winning formula. But we start first with what Drake Maye told Albert Breer from inside the Patriots' locker room after New England's win over the Texans. |
Divisional Round Takeaways |
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By Albert Breer The Patriots don't want to be anyone's Cinderella. But it was hard not to see it that way—in a Gillette Stadium snow globe—as the clock ticked down and the crowd belted out Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer. In so many ways, the moment illustrated how Mike Vrabel's first team in New England has been viewed from the outside: A scrappy, talent-deficient bunch, leaning on its new coach and a second-year quarterback playing at an MVP level. How could a team that went 4–13 in 2023 and '24 be in this spot? The notion of this scene, punctuating a breezy 28–16 win over the Texans and their vaunted defense, seemed too far-fetched to even pray for five months ago. Yet, here were Vrabel's Patriots, 16 wins later, headed for the AFC title game. And they'll be the first ones to tell you that they've arrived at this point of the NFL season on a whole lot more than fairy dust. All along, the players on a roster that Vrabel and personnel chief Eliot Wolf, along with lieutenants such as Ryan Cowden and John Streicher, built into a contender saw a team that was better than most of us (my hand's up) imagined possible. In a quiet moment at the end of the locker room, with a black hoodie on and a backpack slung over his right shoulder, ready to head out into a white winter New England night, the team's 23-year-old superstar quarterback wasn't afraid to say as much. He knew what people were saying about their schedule. But he also knew his team wouldn't wilt as the competition stiffened. |
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Eric Hartline/Imagn Image |
By Conor Orr A 10th—10th—NFL head coaching job opened Monday morning, less than 48 hours after the Bills' unceremonious exit from the NFL playoffs. Acting with an almost unprecedented urgency, Buffalo cut ties with Sean McDermott after he posted a 98–50 record in nine seasons, the 15th-best win percentage in NFL history and double-digit win totals every season since 2019. To say that this adds an incredible amount of palace intrigue to this coaching cycle would be putting it lightly. The Giants and Falcons sprinted down the aisle with the consensus top candidates on the market, John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski, removing them from consideration for a job that many would consider to be the best, or a close second best, in this cycle. Only Harbaugh knows whether he'd have been interested in the Buffalo opening. In a quick survey of league sources connected to the coaching industry, here are some notes on both the Bills' situation and what we're hearing leaguewide:
Read more at the link below. |
By Matt Verderame Sean McVay stood at the postgame podium. Behind him loomed a white concrete block wall. Beyond it echoed the screams and cheers of 53 men elated to have a chance at something we all yearn for at one point or another in our lives: atonement. Not only did his Rams win 20–17 in overtime over the Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC divisional round on Sunday night, they earned the right to attempt redemption next weekend against the Seahawks. The same Seattle team that trailed McVay's team 30–14 midway through the fourth quarter in Week 16 before winning 38–37 in overtime to propel itself to the NFC West crown and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. As McVay talked about the resilience and character of his team, the team itself exulted in triumph. High-fives could be heard through the din of unintelligible hollering, with players both thrilled and relieved after surviving one of the greatest plays in NFL history, a 50-yard prayer from Caleb Williams to Cole Kmet with 18 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. In the immediate aftermath of the win, McVay's voice was hoarse and his hands were a purplish-red, gripping the sides of the lectern as if the game's conclusion hadn't quite set in. McVay, self-describedly "cold as s---," was beaming. "We were hopeful," said McVay of going back to Seattle. "Once those guys won [on Saturday night], I was hoping that we would be able to get a chance to go back. I thought this was possibly a scenario that could set itself up, and here we are." |
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By Gilberto Manzano There are so many questions after what was supposed to be a legendary night in Chicago. And I say legendary because I needed a stronger word than special, because it was still that—a special night—despite the playoff heartbreaker the Bears suffered in overtime against the Rams on Sunday. Let's get to the questions, because the faster Bears fans process those, the faster they'll be able to see all the good that came from a drama-filled 20–17 playoff classic at Soldier Field. I'm also having a hard time focusing on what went wrong because I just want to highlight the Bears' special quarterback, who delivered the most jaw-dropping throws in the clutch the past two weeks. But we still have to ask all the whys, especially on Caleb Williams's crushing interception that gave the Rams new life in overtime. Why did coach Ben Johnson call a shot play to DJ Moore when all the Bears needed was a walk-off field goal in overtime? Why didn't Williams go away from the call with Moore being defended by Rams safety Kamren Curl? And for the biggest question: Why didn't Moore complete the drag route? Did he not know the play? Did he misjudge how close Curl was to the ball? Why did Curl show more effort than Moore on the game-changing interception? |
Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images |
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By Conor Orr The ugly circumstances of Sunday's Texans-Patriots game, in which C.J. Stroud tossed four interceptions in a 28–16 loss, was a moment made for our time, capping a series of playoff games featuring abhorrent performances from elite quarterbacks. And when we criticize one elite quarterback, we must measure that, pitch perfectly, against the way we've criticized another. And God forbid we forget to mention what we've said about a third elite quarterback in the past, knowing that he, too, turned the ball over multiple times in a playoff game while another QB we also poked fun at only did so twice. This is a borderline religious whataboutism. It is our new Sunday purpose. And, without question, it's obscuring the real story. We are going to be more tightly wound than a Celtic knot by the end of all this—truly, I promise, it matters so much less than you know that Jalen Hurts has as many turnovers in 10 postseason games as Josh Allen did on Saturday, given that the Eagles actively work to prevent Hurts from even venturing into turnover-worthy situations while the Bills need Allen to walk a tightrope on every play—and many people haven't seemed to notice what is happening around us. |
By Greg Bishop
Sam Darnold threw the pass that changed everything on a Thursday night in Week 16. Not in the playoffs. Nor in the regular-season finale. Not for the touchdown that beat the Rams that Thursday, even, nor the two-point conversion that completed an epic comeback and jumbled the NFC's playoff seeding. No, this pass set all that up, made all that—and much more—possible. It wasn't a throw so much as an exorcism. L.A. led, in overtime, 37–30. Darnold drove the Seahawks past midfield. He dropped back on second down, with three Rams defenders from one of the fiercest defensive lines in football all but in lockstep. Darnold knew he would get hit and chucked the football, anyway, the pass arcing and layered and in the one spot where only Cooper Kupp might catch it. Darnold didn't see Kupp closing, didn't see his hands around the football, nor the nifty toe-tap to stay in bounds. This play went for 21 yards and would be overshadowed by the Seahawks' subsequent victory. |
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Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images |
By Matt Verderame There's nothing that can prepare you for that sort of haymaker. Caleb Williams drifted back 20 yards, threw off his back foot, and heaved a prayer on fourth-and-4 with 27 seconds remaining. Cole Kmet answered his prayer. Tie game. Bedlam at Soldier Field. But instead of folding in the cold as so many teams would have, the Rams hung tough. And after punting to begin overtime, Los Angeles found more fortitude when safety Kam Curl intercepted Williams, who threw three on the night, giving the offense one more chance. From there, Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams did their thing before kicker Harrison Mevis did his from 42 yards out for the winning points. But for the Rams, this is more than a win. It's a moment. Los Angeles hasn't played well since losing in Week 16's classic to the Seahawks. They fell the following week to Atlanta and then staggered through ugly wins in Week 18 against the Cardinals and, on wild-card weekend, against the Panthers. This game wasn't perfect. Stafford completed only 20-of-42 attempts. The Rams ran for 3.6 yards per carry. Sean McVay called a bizarre game. But in the end, Los Angeles walked out of Chicago beaming, believing anything is possible. |
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