Sean McDermott has led the Buffalo Bills to one of the most successful stretches in the organization's history, but the head coach has still fallen short of the ultimate goal.
Now, McDermott and the Bills enter the 2026 NFL playoffs as the No. 6 seed, set to face off against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round. A win on wild-card weekend would not only jumpstart the Bills playoff run, but it would also mark the team's first road playoff win since the 1990s.
While McDermott is considered one of the better coaches in the NFL, he has not had the same level of playoff success as some of his peers. Here's a breakdown of McDermott's playoff history as a head coach.
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Sean McDermott playoff record
| Year | Regular season record | Playoff record |
| 2017 | 9-7 | 0-1 |
| 2018 | 6-10 | N/A |
| 2019 | 10-6 | 0-1 |
| 2020 | 13-3 | 2-1 |
| 2021 | 11-6 | 1-1 |
| 2022 | 13-3 | 1-1 |
| 2023 | 11-6 | 1-1 |
| 2024 | 13-4 | 2-1 |
| 2025 | 12-5 | N/A |
| Overall | 98-50 | 7-7 |
As the Bills head coach, McDermott has a 7-7 record in the playoffs, which includes just two seasons where he won two games in a playoff run. Otherwise, McDermott has had just one season where he missed the playoffs and didn't win his first playoff game until his fourth season in Buffalo.
Sean McDermott road playoff record
McDermott is 0-5 on the road in his career as the Bills coach.
Over those five games, McDermott has played road games in three different cities. In 2017, McDermott's first year with the Bills, Buffalo lost to the Jaguars in Jacksonville as a No. 6 seed. Then, in 2019, the Bills lost to the Houston Texans in Houston as a No. 5 seed.
Those were McDermott's first two playoff games, both coming as wild-card teams and he has since returned to the playoffs with better teams. The Bills won five-straight division titles from 2020 to 2024, allowing the Bills to play at least one home playoff game each season, and sometimes two.
However, in three of those five years, the Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium to end their seasons. That includes two AFC Championship games and the infamous "13 seconds" divisional round game.
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Has Sean McDermott won a Super Bowl?
Sean McDermott has not won a Super Bowl at any point in his career.
The defensive coach spent a decade with the Philadelphia Eagles, and while they made the Super Bowl once in that span, the Eagles didn't win it all. Then, in six years as the Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator, McDermott did make it back to the Super Bowl, but once again lost.
McDermott is still looking to return to the Super Bowl for the first time as the Bills head coach, and he is hoping to lead Buffalo to both his and their first Super Bowl victory.
How long has Sean McDermott coached the Bills?
The Bills hired Sean McDermott before the 2017 season, which makes this the ninth year that McDermott has been Buffalo's head coach. McDermott has coached and won the second-most games in Bills history, only behind legendary Bills head coach Marv Levy.