Next Step for Bills: Avoiding a Letdown

They can win the AFC East and secure at least one home playoff game by winning out. But they have to stay humble.

Just because they've successfully completed the most difficult task needed to defend their AFC East crown, the Buffalo Bills (9-6) still have some things to accomplish, or the season can go off the rails quickly.

Beating the New England Patriots (9-6) on Sunday meant the division title will remain in Buffalo if the Bills can just take take care of the Atlanta Falcons (7-8) and New York Jets (4-11) in their final two regular-season games, both at home.

Wins in those would mean they wouldn't have to get on a plane again until at least the third week of January.

Although the team that lost to Jacksonville last month probably doesn't need to be reminded how important it is to stay on point, coach Sean McDermott did so anyway on Sunday behind closed doors and again the next day when speaking to the media in a Zoom press conference.

His message to the team? Stay humble.

We ain't dying yet. 😤@Nextiva | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/6lmu4Y3QB1

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 26, 2021

His message to the media? It ain't over 'til it's over.

"I think that the biggest game for us is this coming week, quite honestly," McDermott added on Monday. That's where we're at in our season, and this is a good football team coming in here in the Atlanta Falcons. They've got a quarterback [Matt Ryan] that's seen a lot of ball over the years."

McDermott was speaking to reporters, but the message clearly was for his players.

If they lose focus down the stretch, they can lose everything. Start looking at the finish line now, and they'll trip.

"This is part of the job where there's going to be noise, whether it's really positive or really negative," McDermott said, "and you got to learn to ignore it and do your job at a high level, and that'll be part of our focus this week."

The message was reiterated by defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

"It's just a matter of coming to work every day, just working as hard as you can and preparing the right way," he said. "We talked about this a little bit on the plane with some of our players coming back [from New England], just making sure we come back in on Wednesday when the guys are back in the building with that mindset that we're not going to have a letdown after a very emotional game on the road against a divisional rival.

"So that's what it comes back to — just making sure we have the right mindset and are really approaching this thing the right way. There's so much at stake in each one of the remaining games in our season that we've got to be on point in our preparation, and I think I think our guys will be."

Said quarterback Josh Allen: "We have to finish, and that starts with the next one. That's all we're really going to focus on. We won't want to look too far into the future. It's got to be this next one. And then we'll go from there."

That it's taken this long for things to come together for the Bills is a reminder that every year features some change in player leadership, no matter how much continuity there may be.

"I think we we continue to learn lessons with this ... young football team and young leadership group," McDermott said. "And it's hard to follow up a season like last year with with a similar season the next year. That's part of the challenge. I'm just very proud of the way the guys have persevered and the leadership group, and I've felt them — not only off the field but on the field in their play as well."

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.