Bills find way to win, take control of AFC East despite not being their best
Published
Among the qualities of good football teams is being able to win games when they are not at their best.
That was the Buffalo Bills on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa was the better quarterback, the Dolphins run game overshadowed the Bills' on this day and Miami managed to control the time of possession with long and efficient drives that tested the patience of the Bills defence.
But when all was said and done, Buffalo had a 30-27 win, a 2-0 division series sweep over Miami and a commanding four-game lead atop the AFC East at 7-2.
Buffalo got its first dramatic win of the season, thanks to a 61-yard field goal by Tyler Bass, the longest of his career and the longest in Buffalo franchise history, to put the win to bed.
All of that was necessary because of a Bills offence that got off to yet another slow start, managing just a pair of field goals before halftime despite two trips to the redzone.
Buffalo has trailed at halftime in five of their nine games but have become masters of the third and fourth quarters.
Sunday was no different. The Bills forced a fumble on Miami's opening possession of the second half and scored on three consecutive drives -- getting touchdowns from three non-starters in receiver Mack Hollins, running back Ray Davis and tight end Quinton Morris.
The Dolphins executed their offensive game plan well, and a smart plan it was. Rather than force the ball down the field to their trio of talented receivers -- Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Odell Beckham Jr -- Miami attacked the first and second levels of the Bills defence, with Tagovailoa quickly getting the ball out of his hands, completing 16 passes to running backs and tight ends.
Ironically, it was a player who used to patrol centre field for the Bills defence who provided the moment Buffalo needed to pull this one out. With the Bills facing third and long on their final drive and one play away from punting the ball back to Miami, Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer came flying across the field to break-up a pass to rookie Keon Coleman, colliding helmet-to-helmet and drawing a flag that helped set up Bass's game-winning kick.
Beyond sealing the victory, the kick was huge for a player who has been, as Bills head coach Sean McDermott put it, "under the microscope" since the end of last season when he missed a makeable field goal in the Bills three-point home playoff loss to Kansas City last January.
Bass followed that up with an inconsistent training camp and start to the season, leading the Bills to add a kicker to their practice roster for two weeks in October.
It was an emotional celebration after the game for all, as Bass got the game ball and with it, undoubtedly a boost in his confidence on a day he missed an extra point and sailed another off the inside of an upright.
At 7-2, the Bills have turned their season of roster transition into a runaway atop their division, with a fifth consecutive regular season title clearly in sight.
The battle now is for top spot in the AFC, which might have seemed like a longshot when the season began but is no longer, with Kansas City coming to town two weeks from now.
With Josh Allen playing the most efficient football of his career, with a group of receivers with complementary skills and a run game led by James Cook with splashes of the rookie Davis, who had a 63-yard catch and run touchdown Sunday, the Bills can keep-up with anyone when they have to.
The defence has been susceptible to the run at times, although as slot corner Taron Johnson suggested after Sunday's game, that is as much a choice as anything, a symptom of their leaning toward preventing explosive plays.
There are things the Bills can improve upon as can any team in during the second half of the schedule. But the uncertainty that hung over this team back in the off-season and summer is gone.
As the NFL crosses the midpoint of its regular season, the Buffalo Bills are where they want to be.
And where so many doubted they could be.