Sean McDermott firing feels like a familiar scapegoat move Jets fans know

The Buffalo Bills made the surprising decision to fire head coach Sean McDermott on Monday following yet another heartbreaking playoff defeat. It's a controversial decision, one that New York Jets fans can probably relate to, at least to some degree.

Buffalo lost 33–30 in overtime to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round on Sunday in a game that was defined by mistakes more than coaching flaws. The Bills turned the ball over five times, four of them by Josh Allen, who delivered one of the worst playoff performances of his career.

Of course, McDermott wasn’t blameless. After years of coming up short in January, it’s fair to argue that a change may have been necessary. Running it back again and hoping for a different result would have felt stale.

But what made Buffalo’s decision so jarring wasn’t just the firing itself. It was who wasn’t held accountable alongside him. While McDermott was shown the door, general manager Brandon Beane not only kept his job, but he also somehow managed to receive a promotion.

Jets fans have seen this movie before with their own version of Sean McDermott's firing

Bills owner Terry Pegula announced on Monday that Beane will now serve as president of football operations in addition to general manager, overseeing the coaching search in a new reporting structure that gives him even more power.

That move immediately raised eyebrows, especially among a fan base that has grown increasingly frustrated with Buffalo’s inability to get over the hump. Beane has shouldered a majority of the blame for the Bills' recent struggles.

If accountability was the goal, Beane’s promotion was certainly a weird way to accomplish it.

Much of what went wrong for the Bills this season can be traced back to roster construction. Buffalo entered the year with a noticeably weaker roster than in previous seasons, and nowhere was that more apparent than at wide receiver.

The Bills neglected the position in the offseason, leaving Allen to work with one of the worst receiving groups in the NFL. By the time the postseason arrived, Buffalo was relying heavily on journeymen and guys signed off the street.

Brandin Cooks, signed in late November, was one of their top options, while players like Gabe Davis and Mecole Hardman were added late in the season and ended up playing sizable roles down the stretch.

A large part of that problem stems from Beane’s miss on Keon Coleman, Buffalo’s second-round pick in 2024. Coleman followed up a disappointing rookie campaign with an even more troubling 2025 season, as drops and attitude concerns led him to be a healthy scratch on multiple occasions.

The defensive side of the ball told a similar story. Buffalo poured significant resources into its defensive line, both through the draft and free agency, yet saw little payoff. Veteran additions like Joey Bosa and Larry Ogunjobi were major disappointments.

The lack of impact up front has become a long-running issue, highlighted by an almost unbelievable stat. The Bills have not had a defensive end record a sack in a postseason loss since Jerry Hughes in the 2020 AFC Championship Game. That’s six years of playoff exits.

Beane’s draft record is also a major part of the problem. Since selecting Allen in 2018, the Bills have drafted 56 players. Only two of them, James Cook and Dawson Knox, have made Pro Bowls.

Knox is no longer even Buffalo’s top tight end. First-round busts like Kaiir Elam, who is no longer on the roster, come to mind when evaluating why the Bills’ roster steadily eroded around their franchise quarterback.

None of this absolves McDermott entirely. His defenses have had their own postseason failures, and it’s fair to question whether his voice had gone stale. But if Buffalo truly believed the foundation of the organization was flawed, firing only the head coach feels like a half-measure.

If you’re going to rip the Band-Aid off, you rip it all the way off. Instead, the Bills doubled down on the executive most responsible for assembling the roster that just fell short again.

That’s where this move might start to feel familiar to Jets fans. The situation isn’t identical, but the pattern is recognizable. The Jets fired Robert Saleh five games into the 2024 season, with the team sitting at 2–3, with owner Woody Johnson jumping the gun in an effort to save the season.

Now, Saleh had his flaws. His in-game management and offensive hires were fair points of criticism. This isn’t about turning him into a victim or pretending he was perfect.

But it’s notable that Saleh has since become one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates on the market. He’s widely respected around the league and is reportedly drawing strong interest from teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers following their own coaching change.

Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur has also rehabilitated his reputation, thriving with the Los Angeles Rams and earning head coach consideration of his own. Meanwhile, former Jets general manager Joe Douglas has not come close to receiving another GM opportunity.

He landed back in an executive role with the Philadelphia Eagles, but the league’s verdict on his tenure has been far less generous than its view of Saleh or LaFleur. It's unlikely Douglas receives another general manager job anytime soon, if ever.

The NFL tends to tell you what it really thinks over time.

Of course, this isn’t a one-to-one comparison. The Bills are in a far stronger position than the Jets were when they pulled the plug on Saleh. But the underlying lesson here is the same.

Firing the head coach can create the illusion of accountability without actually addressing the core issues holding an organization back. Jets fans don’t see the McDermott firing as necessary change. They’ve seen this movie before.