The Buffalo Bills are back to winning ways… albeit not in the prettiest manner.
The Bills won 18-10, but considering the manner of the victory and the opponent being the New York Jets, it was not the most confidence-building victory. Still… survive and advance, right?
With that, here are five takeaways from the Bills’ win over the Jets:
Tyler Bass comeback szn… kind of
Oh boy, were things starting bad for Buffalo’s rookie kicker in Tyler Bass. Part of it wasn’t on him, though. To start the game, the Jets won the toss and elected to receive the ball instead of taking it at halftime. In doing so, the Jets offense looked… good. Moving the ball with ease, Buffalo’s defense managed to hold them to a field goal (not on Bass).
Following that drive, the Bills offense came back out there and did the same, lined up an early field goal. But… Bass missed it by pulling it wide left from 45 yards. All things considered, Bass was already looking like an early scapegoat for the Bills.
But credit to where it’s due. Bass then went and made four-straight kicks, finally putting the Bills ahead on the scoreboard against the lowly Jets in the second half. An added layer to his successes were the distances. Bass was selected as the winner of Buffalo’s kicker battle against Stephen Hauschka this offseason because he has the big leg. He can make those long ones, but sometimes struggles with accuracy. Bass went out and connected on distances of 53, 48, 46 and 37 yards.
From there, Bass did again have another one that he pushed wide from 37 yards… but to his credit again, the first-year kicker went back out there, made a chip shot from 29 yards and split the uprights on a crucial 40-yard attempt late, putting the Bills up by a touchdown, giving us our final score of 18-10. Bass, now the holder of the record for most field goal attempts in a single Bills game with eight, hopefully can build some confidence from this one.