Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass hits 61-yard field goal for the win

Bass when from goat to hero with a single swing of his leg

The Buffalo Bills seemed to have a kicking problem in the first half of this season, but on Sunday, Tyler Bass, the kicker they drafted in 2020, (maybe) silenced all critics.

The Bills were in a shootout with division rival Miami Dolphins who were trying to keep their season relevant with only two wins. But it wasn’t Josh Allen or Tua Tagovailoa who exited Highmark Stadium as the hero – it was Bass.

With 98 seconds left, the Bills were trying to move the ball and break the 27-27 stalemate. But they had to use their last timeout well before they would have liked. They failed to get to the unofficial “Bass Target Line” CBS showed on the screen. But it didn’t deter the 27-year-old kicker out of Georgia Southern.

Bass said that the Buffalo offense was a yard short of the 60-yard mark that special teams requested, but that he was already on the field when ST coach Matthew Smiley asked if wanted to try. He hit the kick to give Buffalo the win.

Bass had never made a kick of 60+ yards and has struggled all season. On the same day as he kicked a career-long, Bills-record 61-yard field goal to win the game, he had missed a simple PAT and bounced another one off the upright (though that one made it through).

Since September, Bass has missed a total of three PATs and entered Week 9 hitting just 80% of his field goals (12 of 15). Not great for a guy making more than $4 million a year. We were even worried about him this offseason.

After Bass missed both a field goal and an extra point in Week 6, the Bills brought a few kickers into practice, ultimately signing Lucas Havrisik to the practice squad. But Bass responded as a professional should, saying he understood the business was about results. And then he produced results. In Weeks 7 and 8, the Buffalo kicker was perfect hitting three field goals and eight PAT’s over that time.

This week, the Bills released Havrisik to make room for another wide receiver, and it appeared that Bass was ‘their guy’ – which is what general manager Brandon Beane had said he hoped would be the case when questioned about the kicking competition back at the start of Week 7. Sunday looked like maybe with Havrisik gone, Bass maybe relaxed too much as he struggled with the short yardage kicks.

But when it came down to win or not, the coaching staff turned to Bass who was more than ready. While Smiley wanted the ball at the 43. Bass’s previous best was when the ball was snapped from the 41. But the 44 was what they got. Bass knew from the minute his foot hit the ball. It would have been good from 70.

Bass got emotional after the game, thanking his teammates for their support throughout the tumultuous season as he was awarded the game ball by Sean McDermott.

On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 30-27. And Tyler Bass beat his demons.