The Kansas City Chiefs had a bad year, with a 6-11 record that positioned them surprisingly far outside of the AFC playoff picture. But there's no denying that misery loves company with the news that their biggest rivals in the conference have resorted to even greater measures to turn around their misfortunes in 2025 by firing their head coaches.
The Baltimore Ravens have already moved on from John Harbaugh, who quickly found a new place to land with the New York Giants as Brian Daboll's permanent replacement. Now the Buffalo Bills have followed suit and fired Sean McDermott after nine seasons as the head coach.
The Bills lost a close game in the divisional round to the Denver Broncos by a final score of 33-30. In the aftermath, rumors of McDermott's demise were swirling and, on Monday, Buffalo's owner finally confirmed the news.
Sean McDermott's firing only reinforces the notion that this season was a shockingly upside-down year for the AFC's entrenched powers.
McDermott first took over the Bills head coaching post back in 2017 and has posted seven consecutive seasons of 10 wins or more. However, with a franchise quarterback like Josh Allen, expectations for the Bills are essentially "Super Bowl or bust" at this point. After yet another season of dashed postseason hopes, McDermott was shown the door.
The Bills went 12-5 this season under McDermott's leadership, and the head coach's career record is 98-50. That sort of sustained success is likely to earn him a quick round of interviews with teams still searching for their next head coach—a list that could include the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, and more.
Besides the Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens and Bills have served as the AFC's other annual superpowers for years, but that narrative has changed in 2025 as the Broncos and New England Patriots are the last teams vying for a Super Bowl LV appearance. To right the ship, all three teams have made changes to their coaching staffs, but Andy Reid's dominance over Harbaugh and McDermott has left those teams scrambling to make adjustments. It's also notable that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike Tomlin parted ways this offseason as well, bringing seismic changes to the conference.
The hope in both Baltimore and Buffalo at this point is that a leadership reset, combined with a superstar quarterback with prime years remaining, will be enough to upend the usual pecking order in the AFC. This season has felt like an upside-down campaign for those used to leading the pack and the Buffalo Bills' latest decision only reinforces that reality.