Everything Sean McDermott said after Bills get embarrassed by Ravens

It's amazing what a difference a week makes in the NFL. Just a few days ago, Sean McDermott and the Buffalo Bills were the toast of the league, riding high after a 47-10 demolition of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sunday night, however, brought a 35-10 humbling at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, a loss that throws into question Buffalo's place in the AFC pecking order — and brought its coach in for some tough scrutiny afterward.

McDermott's team got blasted in all three phases; Derrick Henry rumbled for nearly 200 yards, Lamar Jackson had almost as many touchdowns (3) as incompletions (5) and Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense averaged just four yards per play. So it's only natural that the head coach had plenty to answer for in his postgame press conference, from his team's overall performance to players who might be at risk of losing playing time to the thought process behind one of the most baffling trick play calls we'll see all season.

Here's everything McDermott had to say after the loss.

Everything Sean McDermott said after Bills' blowout loss to Ravens

Understandably, McDermott wasn't in the mood to mince words.

“Credit where credit’s due," McDermott said. "The Baltimore Ravens came out and beat us. They outplayed us, they outcoached us. We've got to identify the problems and get them fixed."

He even went as far as wishing that his coaching staff would have a little more time on the plane back to Buffalo in order to debrief.

“It's an hour plane ride home, but I wish it was a five-hour plane ride so I'd have enough time to find all the things we need to work on.”

On opting to punt rather than go for it on the Bills' opening drive of the game

The tone of this game was set on the opening possession, when McDermott, faced with a 4th and 2 from midfield, opted to punt rather than let Allen try to pick up the first down. It was a surprisingly conservative decision, especially considering how hot this Buffalo offense has been to start the season and how aggressive McDermott has typically been on fourth down.

“Felt like just the feel of the game at that point it was too early to take a chance," McDermott explained afterward.

The decision almost immediately backfired: Sam Martin's punt pinned the Ravens at their own 13, but Derrick Henry rumbled for an 87-yard touchdown run on the very next play from scrimmage — and the route was on. A banged-up Bills defense was always going to have its work cut out for it against Jackson, Henry and Co., and McDermott's decision to take the ball out of Allen's hands reeked of coaching scared in the team's biggest game of the season to date.

On whatever was going on with that disastrous trick play

Down 21-3 at halftime, the Bills looked to have seized momentum to start the third quarter. Allen led a quick Buffalo touchdown drive on the team's first possession of the second half, and a Baltimore three-and-out gave the Bills the ball back with a chance to cut the lead to one score. Buffalo quickly moved the ball into Ravens territory ... at which point offensive coordinator Joe Brady dialed up one of the strangest trick plays in recent memory:

Allen conspicuously lined up at wide receiver, and when he came back into the backfield to take a reverse from Curtis Samuel, Baltimore's defense was all over it. It was a baffling decision, particularly given that Buffalo's offense had finally started to catch a rhythm and was moving the ball at will.

"I think that's something Joe [Brady] and I will talk about and something we'll learn from," McDermott said. "Certainly a momentum change right there. I'm sure he wants that call back. I do as well."

On struggling kicker Tyler Bass

Many Bills fans clamored for Buffalo to make a change at kicker this offseason, after Bass struggled mightily in 2023 (including the infamous miss to end the Bills' season in the playoffs against the Chiefs). But McDermott has maintained public confidence in Bass, and that continued after Sunday night, even after the kicker missed a 48-yarder that would have brought the game to 28-13 late in the third.

“Does he need to make that kick? Absolutely," McDermott told reporters, while reiterating that he believed in Bass as the team's kicker moving forward.