Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills headed into their Week 18 matchup with the New England Patriots with a chance to secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs with a victory in front of the home crowd at Highmark Stadium.
Not only did the Bills get the job done with a seventh-straight win, 35-23, to finish the regular season at 13-3 overall, the victory helped eliminate the Patriots from postseason contention.
Also with the win, paired with a New York Jets loss to the Miami Dolphins, it sets the stage for an AFC Wild Card Round showdown sometime next weekend in Orchard Park between the longtime AFC East rivals.
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The entire country rallied around Bills safety Damar Hamlin this past week after he was rushed off the field due to a life-threatening medical emergency in Buffalo's Week 17 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As the week progressed, so too did Hamlin's medical condition. His recovery has been described as "remarkable", as he was able to awake from a medically-induced coma Wednesday night, then eventually have his breathing tube removed and get the chance to FaceTime with his teammates on Friday.
Bills head coach McDermott spoke about the difficulties of preparing for a game with this much meaning, getting ready for many possible uncertainties. He did note that many things changed quickly after the opening kickoff.
"Going into the game, a lot of unknowns, just not sure how the players are going to handle it," said McDermott during his postgame comments on Sunday. "I feel like I had a pretty good control on how I was going to handle it, but you never know, again, just because it was a new situation for us, and we were all thinking of Damar and his family. Then we come out with the first play there and it was kind of surreal watching Nyheim score, and then I was more concerned - I guess it's just coach speak - about the next play and the ensuing three quarters, and how that was going to be handled there. But again, our guys came in at halftime, made the adjustments they needed to make, and then [went out an executed]."
McDermott also spoke to the connection that the city and fanbase have with this Bills team, and how important that has been throughout this difficult time.
"I've talked about that being in sync with your fanbase, and your fanbase being in sync with the team. I think that's real here in Buffalo," McDermott said. "We lift each other up, that's what we do. We need them like they need us, and we feel strongly about that."
Hear more of McDermott's postgame press conference with the media available in the player below:
