Instead of playing for a shot to go to the Super Bowl like many in the national media expected, the Buffalo Bills are looking for a new head coach and reeling from another playoff failure. That's all thanks to the Denver Broncos, who beat the Bills 33-30 in an overtime thriller in the divisional round of the postseason.
The Broncos' victory over the Bills was an emotional, hard-fought victory, and a crushing defeat for the Bills.
The man in charge of the Bills -- owner Terry Pegula -- made it very clear after his decision to fire head coach Sean McDermott that it was the loss to the Broncos that officially forced him to make a drastic change.
Bills owner admits that the Broncos forced him to fire head coach Sean McDermott
Bills owner Terry Pegula: "My decision to move on at head coach was based on the results in Denver." He cited the devastation in the locker room and the tears shed by Josh Allen.
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) January 21, 2026
This is as clear as it gets. After the loss to the Broncos, the Bills were so devastated in the locker room after the game that the owner fired the coach.
We're not going to sit here and celebrate a human being losing their job, by any stretch. But for the Broncos to demoralize a franchise in this way is also proof of just how far they've come as an organization. Keep in mind, it was the Broncos who were demoralized just over three years ago on Christmas Day against the Los Angeles Rams.
Dalton Risner was shoving Brett Rypien on the sideline. The Broncos had completely gone off the rails as a team, and Nathaniel Hackett was fired by the new ownership group the next day. Broncos Country knows what it's like to be in the position of having to make sweeping changes when the team is at its worst, but also when the results in the playoffs simply aren't good enough.
Back in the 2014 postseason, the Broncos lost against the Andrew Luck-led Colts and "mutually parted ways" with John Fox after that loss, hiring Gary Kubiak in his place. The loss in Super Bowl 48 left a sour taste in everyone's mouth, but the loss in the following postseason was a fireable offense given the quality of the team.
And Bills owner Terry Pegula understands that even a quality head coach like Sean McDermott needs to be held accountable for repeated failures on a big stage. And it wasn't that the Broncos just so happened to be the last straw for the Bills, but this loss was particularly demoralizing because there was no Patrick Mahomes standing in Josh Allen's way like he has in years past.
This was supposed to be the year, and then it wasn't. The Broncos beat the Bills, not because of penalty calls or luck, but because they were the better team, from coaching on down. And if you need any indication that the Bills themselves don't believe they were screwed by officiating, the decision to almost immediately fire the head coach is the best one you're going to get.