What is grit to the Buffalo Bills?

Grit is a word the Bills wear with pride. It’s become their armor that represents the story of how they made it to the Divisional Round in the playoffs. Grit showed itself in Week 1 when the Bills took on a very talented Baltimore Ravens team.

Buffalo was down by 15 points with just four minutes to play. The odds didn’t stop them. Instead, it served as motivation. The Bills scored 16 unanswered points and forced one takeaway in the final few minutes, ultimately defeating the Ravens with a walk-off, 32-yard field goal as time expired.

“It has been everything to this team, starting with the first game and being down,” special teams ace and defensive back Sam Franklin Jr. said of why grit represents who they are. “Nobody panicked, nobody wavered, and nobody quit. We feel like no matter where we’re in the game, we always have a chance.”

It was a performance that caught the attention of NFL fans world-wide. It was one of passion, perseverance, determination and mental toughness.

“That’s a hell of a win,” McDermott told his team in the postgame speech. “As a coach you always look for a win like this early in the year when you’re trying to bring the team together. You just showed me what’s in here.”

That game helped build Buffalo’s identity, and its coach learned there’s a ton of resilience on the roster. For McDermott, grit is about making it through the obstacles of life.

“It’s how you find a way,” McDermott said. “How you find your way through life … And the football season, the journey of it is, there’s some highs, there’s some lows. So, you stay together, and you keep taking one step, putting one foot in front of the other. If you do that, the light at the end of the tunnel grows a little bit brighter each day.”

Like McDermott, his players believe grit is about surviving the dog days of an NFL season and fighting for the ultimate goal.

“When I hear the word grit, it kind of flows with grind,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “It’s a grinder season. Put it in and whatever you get is what you get, but it’s still edible … This season, it’s just been a tough group man, a tough group of guys that just keep fighting.”