For some 45 minutes Tuesday morning, Bills coach Sean McDermott held his season-ending press conference via Zoom.

He reiterated, several times, how much the 42-36 overtime loss to the Chiefs in Sunday evening’s AFC divisional playoff at Kansas City still hurts … especially since Buffalo seemingly had the game won with 13 seconds left in regulation until a highly questionable decision and some awful defense reversed the result.

McDermott evaded details on those situations but repeated, several times, that the crushing defeat was a learning experience that would make the Bills better in seasons to come.

EARLY ON, he was asked about the criticized choice to kick off deep with a 36-33 lead and only seconds remaining rather than opting for a squib kick and possibly forcing the Chiefs to field the ball and use up valuable time.

However, as it was after the game, his answer was cryptic about who made the decision (clearly it was his … or should have been), but rather focused on the poor coverage after the kickoff when two passes to wide-open receivers set KC up for the game-tying field goal.

“I’M NOT GOING to get into the specifics and details on that … it comes down to execution. We didn’t execute. That’s where I was after the game, that’s where I am now,” McDermott said, ignoring the fact the only execution is kicking the ball in the end zone, if that’s the call, which is exactly what Tyler Bass did. “It’s disappointing overall to get that result but it’s even more disappointing knowing that we prepare and practice those situations.”

The second part of that answer he admitted was aimed specifically at the collapse of the late-game pass defense.

“It’s been disappointing, particularly the last part of the game … those last 13 seconds of the game we pride ourselves on being detailed and prepared,” McDermott continued. “That’s an area of situational football that we practice almost daily here and we typically handle very well. I wish our execution was different.”

HERE ARE some of the fifth-year coach’s other responses:

What encouraging things did he take from the season?

“There are a lot of positives … we’ve come a long way as an organization and I’m super proud of what we — not just players and coaches on the field — as an organization have accomplished. Obviously, on the field, two back-to-back AFC East championships, three 10-win seasons in a row, making the playoffs four out of five years.

“I’m extremely proud of the team and what we’ve accomplished.”

The reward of playing Kansas City tough?

“You obviously want to win those tug-o-wars, so we’re disappointed in the loss, (especially the way it played out) and it hurts. But I’m super proud of being in games like that … we went toe-to-toe with the defending AFC champ two years in a row.

“They’re a good football team, they’re well-coached and have good players but we’re right there. Look where we were a year ago against Kansas City and where we were this year. We’ve got a little bit of a measuring stick … but we want to win those games.”

Have the Chiefs provided a model on team building?

“Giving them credit, they’ve done a lot of things well and had quite some time to build that up. We’re going to continue to build this as well … continue to address areas of need … not just this year, but evolving with the game as it continues to evolve and be out in front of it all the time. One of the areas that we have to look at (is) … matching team speed on both sides of the ball.

“I believe we’re headed in the right direction and that we’ll accomplish our goal … this is a winning organization.”

So the Bills aren’t a finished product?

“I’m not one to sit around and say ‘We’re fine.’ If you saw that plane ride on the way home (from Kansas City) you would not come away with the impression that we’re fine. Are we going in the right direction? I believe we are and I think that’s important, we have momentum and we have improvement.”

Did the loss show any particular Buffalo vulnerability?

“We didn’t play well enough defensively the last game and that falls on me. That’s an area we have to assess with a very critical eye in our offseason if we’re going to improve as a team.”

(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)