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    • Tyler Bass saves Buffalo to get past Dolphins
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    Tyler Bass saves Buffalo to get past Dolphins

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    ORCHARD PARK – If there was ever a day where the Miami Dolphins would finally exorcise some of their demons against the Buffalo Bills, this had to be the day, right?

    On an idyllic fall afternoon in western New York, with sunny skies and a temperature of 54 degrees, the Dolphins were the better team for large parts of the game and it seemed and felt like more than 70,000 spectators were going through a roller coaster of emotions. would leave the building in frustrated silence for three hours.

    Instead, the Dolphins still walked to their locker room with their heads bowed, their eyes glazed over and their ears filled with raucous celebration as Tyler Bass gained a franchise-record 61 yards with five seconds left. to give Buffalo a 30-27 victory.

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    Wow.

    “Man, what a story,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “T-Bass reaches a franchise record. And that doesn’t happen on its own, so I want to make sure I give credit, along with T-Bass with Sam (Martin) and Reid (Ferguson) and the guys up front who blocked for him. Just a huge kick for us.”

    This was a game that featured four lead changes and three ties, the last at 27-27 when Tua Tagovailoa threw a seven-yard TD pass to Jaylen Waddle with 1:38 left. And with the Bills’ offense stumbling and stumbling on its final possession, only reaching the Miami 43 when Bass trotted onto the field, it’s safe to say that anyone not receiving a Terry Pegula-signed salary thought this game was on extensions are heading. .

    “Exhale,” Josh Allen said minutes after Bass’ kick flew through the uprights. “So proud of him, so happy for him. I got emotional in my little post-game speech just because of the trials and tribulations he’s faced all year. Obviously he missed one early in the day and hit the post in another, you know he could have easily put it in the tank and made a 61 yard field goal to clinch a game against a division rival Winning is what stories are made of. Everyone in that locker room is so happy for him, and he’s our guy.”

    This is how I assessed the accounts:

    PASS VIOLATION: B-

    Allen wasn’t at his best and it was baffling because he was facing a Miami defense minus FS Jevon Holland, NCB Kader Kohou and DT Zach Sieler, three of the Dolphins’ most talented defenders. But the Dolphins did a good job taking away his first and in some cases second and third reads, and everything came hard in the passing game as he finished 25 of 39 for 235 yards.

    Keon Coleman took points off the board in the second quarter when he let a quick slant go right through his hands and Jalen Ramsey made the interception inside the 5-yard line, just a brazen, brazen mistake that can’t happen, especially down low. there. He finished with just one catch for 21 yards, though he did get a huge personal foul penalty against old friend Jordan Poyer, who kept the winning drive alive. He was injured on that play, and we don’t know to what extent.

    Khalil Shakir was great as usual, catching six of seven targets for 50 yards, with most of that yardage coming after the catch. And then the supporting cast made some big contributions as Mack Hollins caught a TD on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2, plus made two catches on the final drive that moved the ball to the 43 and gave Bass a chance.

    RB Ray Davis took a short pass off a blitz and ran 63 yards for a touchdown, and rarely used TE Quintin Morris caught a two-yard touchdown on a throw that seemed impossible for Allen to complete when he was tackled as he made it let go. .

    RUNNING VIOLATION: C

    Not a great day for the offensive line as it struggled to break down the Dolphins. James Cook had just 44 yards on 10 carries, one of which was a 13 yarder, while Ty Johnson had 17 of his 23 yards on one carry. These helped boost the Bills’ per-carry average to 4.9 yards, but that wasn’t easy out there.

    Davis had four carries for 20 yards, while Allen had a 14-yard run, but also had a 21-yard touchdown run wiped out by a holding penalty on O’Cyrus Torrence in the second quarter, forcing the Bills to settle for a field . goal. Dion Dawkins was previously assessed a holding penalty on the play after the Bills reached the 11-yard line. That was one of three red zone possessions where the Bills failed to score a touchdown.

    PASS DEFENSE: C

    Tua Tagovailoa picked the Bills apart with his short, precise passing game as he completed 25 of 28 (one of the incompletions was a throwaway) for 231 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. No matter what anyone says about him, all his detractors, of which there are many, he fits perfectly into Mike McDaniel’s offense and the Dolphins are a completely different team when he plays.

    Without CB Christian Benford, the Bills did a great job taking Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out of the mix over the first two and a half quarters. But Hill finally got going, finishing with four catches for 80 yards, his 28-yard catch setting up a go-ahead field goal in the third, a 27-yarder leading to Miami’s tying TD early in the fourth, and his 19-yarder leading the way until Miami’s tying goal late in the fourth. As for Waddle, he didn’t do anything until that final drive, when he caught a key third-down pass and then caught the tying TD from seven yards out.

    The Bills struggled with DeVon Achane, who had eight catches for 58 yards and a touchdown, and Raheem Mostert had two for 32 yards. They were able to take advantage of LB Dorian Williams on a few of those, which is partly why Williams led the Bills with 12 tackles, several of which came on completions. And LB Terrel Bernard didn’t appear to be at full speed when he played on a stray ankle.

    The Bills had just one pass breakup, Rasul Douglas’s on a third down, and just one sack, Greg Rousseau’s that struck when Tagovailoa was in a tight spot after a low shotgun snap.

    RUN DEFENSE: D

    Miami’s offensive line won the scrimmage. It was able to cut the Bills between the tackles and Achane (63 yards) and Mostert (56) both took advantage. Combined, the two averaged 5.4 yards per attempt. The DT duo of Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones couldn’t hold the point, and backups Eli Ankou and Austin Johnson weren’t much better.

    Once again Bernard looked one step away despite eight tackles. One way to assess how the run defense played is tackles through safeties, because if they make a bunch that’s usually a problem. Well, Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp made 10 each.

    Rousseau was solid as three of his seven tackles went for lost yardage, while Rapp and Kaiir Elam – who filled in quite well for Benford – each had one tackle for loss. Elam also recovered a Mostert fumble forced by Taron Johnson early in the third.

    SPECIAL TEAMS: A

    Hey, I gotta pass it on to Bass. If you’re a 61-yarder, that will carry the grade. Yes, he missed a PAT, but he also made a 49-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter.

    Sam Martin kicked just once and it was a beautiful 49-yarder, after which Cam Lewis made a great open-field tackle on Malik Washington at the Miami 17.

    Brandon Codrington’s only touch came early in the game when he fielded a bad 37-yard Jake Bailey punt on a hop and raced up the right sideline for a 29-yard return to the Miami 37, setting up Bass’ first field goal.

    COACHING: C+

    McDermott has to get credit every week for how his team stays committed even when things aren’t going well. This was another slow start for the Bills, but they once again found a way to turn things around with a 24-point second half.

    His challenge on Tagovailoa’s fourth-down scramble was close. I could tell he thought his shin was down before he reached the line to win, but that’s always going to be tough to win. Losing it cost the Bills a timeout, a timeout that could have come in handy on the final possession.

    On offense, Joe Brady struggled to get a handle on what the Dolphins were doing, though he wasn’t helped by Allen, who was more off the mark than usual. And on defense, Bobby Babich was outmaneuvered by McDaniel, especially in the short passing game, as too many guys were able to blitz open. It’s not great if you only force three incompletions.

    Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and has written numerous books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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