Buffalo Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott’s Eyewear Choices Are Leading To Wins
Sports superstitions are a funny thing. We’ve seen players refuse to wash their socks, quarterbacks who have to eat the exact same pre-game meal, and fans who won’t change seats during a rally. It turns out, the biggest adjustment Sean McDermott made this season wasn’t defensive scheming or clock management—it was listening to his wife and switching back to contact lenses.
The Statistical Case Against the Glasses
Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, but the numbers coming out of Orchard Park are getting too weird to ignore. Earlier this season, McDermott, citing the very relatable struggle of aging eyes, switched to wearing glasses on the sideline. He admitted that after “40 some, 50 some years,” he just needed to see the field better. It was a decision born of necessity.
Unfortunately, the football gods didn’t care about his 20/20 vision. During the six-game stretch where McDermott rocked the specs, the Bills looked pedestrian, stumbling to a middling 3-3 record. The vibes were off. The defense was leaky. The energy just wasn’t there.
Then, the glasses disappeared. And suddenly, the Bills became a juggernaut.
Since McDermott ditched the frames, Buffalo has gone on an absolute heater, boasting an 8-1 record. That includes a recent gritty, ugly, but necessary 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns. If you are a member of “Bills Mafia,” you don’t care how the sausage is made, or in this case, how the coach sees the scoreboard, as long as the W’s keep piling up.
A Family Intervention Saves the Season
The best part of this story isn’t the record; it’s how the change happened. It wasn’t an analytics department staffer who pointed out the discrepancy. It was the internet, filtered through a teenager.
According to CBS Sports, McDermott’s son saw the chatter on social media—fans pointing out that the “Glasses Era” was a flop. He brought the intel to his dad. That’s when Mrs. McDermott stepped in with the executive order: go back to contacts.
It adds a hilarious layer of humanity to the high-stakes world of the NFL. Here is a head coach making millions of dollars, navigating the pressure of a Super Bowl window, and the biggest strategic shift of the month comes from a dinner table conversation about Twitter memes.
Winning Ugly Is Still Winning
The change in eyewear seems to have stabilized the ship, even if the offense isn’t lighting the world on fire right now. Josh Allen, usually a highlight-reel machine, has been playing quieter, complementary football. In the recent win over Cleveland, he threw for under 200 yards and let the run game and James Cook do the heavy lifting.
When you’re in the thick of a playoff push, style points don’t count in the standings. The only stat that matters is the final score. For McDermott, the lesson is clear. You might need glasses to read the play sheet, but if you want to read a winning scoreboard in Buffalo, you’d better stick to the contacts.
