We knew it would come to this. The Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills have been on a collision course since the Ravens rolled the Bills earlier this season. Two of three of the best QBs in the business are desperate for a win to take the next step in their professional development. Both teams have great running backs, though very different in size and style.
The hype around this game is unreal. Journalists and other content creators have been amped up on ‘roids’ this week dissecting every scheme and spewing their opinions, most favoring the Ravens to destroy the Bills again because they already did so. Such a lazy take, but this is how some media people function these days.
It’s been stated by many people this game will be won or lost in the trenches. Duh.
I’ll leave it to the schematic magicians to determine how to physically dominate on the line of scrimmage versus the Ravens. As a psychotherapist in another life, my mind immediately reverts to form and analyzes the mental factors that may affect individual and/or group performance.
Last week Sean McDermott was asked by Bill Cowher if he thought this year’s team was different. His answer was yes, and he rattled off a bunch of ‘coachspeak’ about why he thought this Buffalo Bills team had something special going on.
But it’s not just the team that is different.
Below is supporting evidence via X that Sean McDermott has evolved his coaching style to reflect his belief that the mental aspects of playing in the NFL are at least as important as physical traits. When McDermott was a rookie head coach, he was far more buttoned up than he is now.
Check this out:
Look at McDermott’s expression here. If you look at his eyes, you see a kind of mellowing that wisdom brings as he continues to grow into his role as a head coach in the NFL. This kind of wisdom that comes from maturation is why the Bills floundered for so many years trying to find the right head coach.
To those who want McDermott fired every time the team plays a bad game… respectfully… put a sock in it. If y’all can’t see how this man has grown in his role, you aren’t being objective in your analysis in my opinion. You’re also not likely to be an old fart who lived through the lean years and decades of despair.
But I digress.
The most obvious indicator of McDermott’s character came after he faced stinging criticism in an article posted last year. How did McDermott respond? He invited the author to discuss the issues brought up in the article. Who does that? People who have the courage to face their detractors to learn more about how to become a more effective leader.
Sean McDermott has ALWAYS been about personal and professional growth, something that may not be said about some head coaches in the NFL. The reason I bring this up is because many content creators are focusing on the players and how they can find a way to defeat the Ravens. What they are missing is the ‘X-factor’ of Sean McDermott’s change in demeanor after the unflattering portrait made of him by a local journalist.
McDermott turned a negative experience into learning how his mindset projects upon his players… and his naturally reserved nature may have made him seem less approachable in his early years as a head coach. What it looks like he is doing now is projecting the mindset he wants his players to have.
This evolution by McDermott has permeated the locker room. There’s been a similar shift by Josh Allen in this regard as well, although I think in Josh’s case getting his personal life sorted out contributed the most to his personal evolution as an elite quarterback in the NFL.
Regardless of etiology, the fact remains this Bills team is now playing a level where the whole equals more than the sum of its parts. And that made for a team that was supposed to be ‘rebuilding’ turn into one trying to win a Super Bowl. The biggest difference I see with this team this year revolves around the mental approach to winning a game. The Buffalo Sabres could learn a thing or two from the Bills in that regard.
But I digress.
After all that blabbering, it simply boils down to this… mentally… the overall vibe for this game is favorable for the Bills because the majority opinion is that this Ravens team is unstoppable. Furthermore, there were no Buffalo players on AP’s All Pro team and Josh Allen was the only player recognized at all. Talk about supporting evidence this Bills team really is greater than the sum of its parts. And what great fuel for the fire.
These Buffalo Bills players should strive for mental domination on the field as much as they strive for physical domination. Swagger is an important component of playing football in the NFL. The Ravens are known ‘bullies’. The best way to deal with this type of bully on the field requires a high degree of conviction with a side order of determination.
Time to enlighten the masses that BillsMafia will be taking no prisoners on Sunday night as well. On the field or in the stands. If BullyBall is coming to town, let’s bloody rumble.
Editor’s babble: As an elderly Bills fan, I always wonder when we get to this point in the playoffs if this will be the year to finally get the biggest check mark off my bucket list before I die. But honestly, win or lose, cherish these moments because they go by fast. Holla at me on Xwitter @RobynMundyWYO or Bluesky @RobynMundyWYO.bsy.social.
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