Why Sean McDermott should have Bills fans optimistic entering Week 13 vs. 49ers

This Sean McDermott stat should give Buffalo Bills fans confidence entering their Week 13 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There are several reasons why fans of the Buffalo Bills should have optimism entering their Week 13 Sunday Night Football clash with the San Francisco 49ers (and the final six games of the season, for that matter), but there’s one that’s perhaps being overlooked as the team prepares for the upcoming primetime bout: recent history is on their side.

Buffalo is coming off its Week 12 bye, and since taking the reins of the team in 2017, head coach Sean McDermott is undefeated coming out of a week off. He’s 7-0 coming off a bye, with his wins coming against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018, the Miami Dolphins in 2019, the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020, the Dolphins again in 2021, the Green Bay Packers in 2022, and the Kansas City Chiefs last season.

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

It’s the hallmark of a good coach; the bye week can sometimes be dangerous in that players and coaches have the opportunity to lose focus, but McDermott, historically, has never let that happen. His teams never look as though they haven’t played football in two weeks after coming off a bye; also consider that the Bills are a perfect 5-0 at home this year and that this Sunday’s matchup will take place at Highmark Stadium, and the ball appears to be firmly in Buffalo’s court this week.

The 49ers do not look like the team that has appeared in the NFC Championship game in four of the last five seasons through the first 12 weeks of the 2024 campaign, as they’re currently tied for last place in the NFC West at 5-6. They’re still a talented team that’s coached by one of the league’s brightest offensive minds in Kyle Shanahan, but they’ve been decimated by injuries, and they may again be without starting quarterback Brock Purdy this week.

McDermott has a 1-0 career record against San Francisco, a 2020 matchup in which Josh Allen threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns against his boyhood club. There’s a laundry list of reasons—McDermott’s prowess out of the bye week among them—why Buffalo should take care of business against San Francisco this weekend, but games aren’t played on paper; the sideline boss will be sure to have his team prepared for the inter-conference bout.

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