By Joe Buscaglia, Tim Graham and Chris Licata
Tyler Bass’ 61-yard field goal with five seconds left propelled the Buffalo Bills to their fourth straight win with a 30-27 victory over the Miami Dolphins. The triumph furthers Buffalo’s stranglehold on the AFC East with a four-game lead on the division.
Josh Allen’s fourth three-touchdown performance of the season paced the Buffalo offense, which was aided by an unnecessary roughness penalty against old friend Jordan Poyer with 46 seconds to play on the Bills’ game-winning drive.
Despite 373 yards of offense, the loss was Miami’s third straight, and second in a row with Tagovailoa back under center. Now at 2-6, the Dolphins’ playoff hopes are nearly extinguished at the season’s midway point, while Buffalo continues hunting for a potential top seed in the AFC playoff picture.
Bass didn’t miss chance at redemption
The summer and start to the regular season could not have been more up-and-down for Bass, but he hit a personal high note with the game-winning 61-yard kick that sent the Bills to a 7-2 record. Bass has struggled with his consistency from 40 yards or more since training camp, which even led to the Bills signing a kicker to the practice squad a couple of weeks ago. He answered that call well over the last two weeks, which led to them releasing his in-house competition this week.
But again, in the game, the inconsistency crept up on Bass with a missed extra point attempt and another extra point nearly missed as he catapulted it off the left upright and through. But with the game on the line, and a chance to put an exclamation point on their AFC East lead, Bass made his third field goal of the day, booming a kick that would have been good from 70 without any doubt. It was a redemption make if there was ever one for the Bills’ longtime kicker. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer
Poyer helped Buffalo one more time
The Dolphins played it about as well as they could, but still couldn’t escape Orchard Park with a victory. They haven’t won here since 2016, and appeared to at least be headed to overtime and probably should have had a chance to win on their final possession if not for a dumb penalty and a kicker with the yips making a 61-yard field goal. Tagovailoa never has beaten Buffalo, but he tied the game with 1:38 to play on a 7-yard touchdown strike to Jaylen Waddle, just seconds after the speedster exited briefly with an ankle injury.
Miami had two timeouts and had a good shot at one more possession with a defensive stand. With 46 seconds on the clock, Buffalo was on the verge of a three-and-out. But Poyer, who committed a costly unnecessary roughness penalty in their first meeting, drilled defenseless Bills rookie receiver Keon Coleman, turning what might’ve been a third-down incompletion and an inevitable punt into a first down.
Miami coach Mike McDaniel probably wasn’t too busted up about bowing up to force Bass to win the game. However, Bass drilled it down the middle to drop Miami to 2-6, a half-game back of the 2-7 New England Patriots for last place in the AFC East. — Tim Graham, Bills senior writer
Allen’s continues MVP-caliber campaign
Allen put together an outstanding game full of efficiency, big plays and intelligent decisions. He took what the Dolphins’ defense gave the offense and continued to pile up completions and scoring plays, setting up the ultimate game-winning drive to give the Bills their seventh victory of the season.
His lone “mistake” was a pass that should have been a touchdown that went straight through Coleman’s hands, bounced off his chest and landed in the arms of Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Outside of that, Allen’s three touchdown day, including a gutty play to find tight end Quintin Morris for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, showed that when the Bills don’t have their best, Allen can pick them up. He remains a clear candidate for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. — Buscaglia
Required reading
- NFL Week 9, trade deadline live updates: Latest news, rumors, grades and coverage maps
- Tua Tagovailoa reinvigorated the Dolphins’ offense. Here’s what we can take from his return
- Tua Tagovailoa’s return to play prompts conflicting feelings, but QB knows what he wants
- Bills filled one need via trade. What others could they address by the deadline?
(Photo: Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)
