Tag: tyler bass

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ loss to the Cardinals

The Buffalo Bills faced the Arizona Cardinals in a duel in the desert, as Arizona outdueled the Bills.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”X9Zpsu6UQF-1038127-7498″]

The Buffalo Bills faced the Arizona Cardinals in a duel in the desert, as Arizona outdueled the Bills. It was a back and forth game with each teams taking leads throughout, and the Bills thought they had won it with just 36 seconds left as Josh Allen found Stefon Diggs in the end zone. It wasn’t meant to be though, as Kyler Murray heaved up a Hail Mary pass to DeAndre Hopkins to win Arizona the game, 32-30.

With that, here’s Bills Wire’s stock report following the Bills’ loss to the Cardinals:

Stock up

Bills kicker Tyler Bass. Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Tyler Bass

The rookie kicker started his career in Buffalo with two missed field goals against the Jets. After his first game though, he has had a good season. Against the Cardinals, he kept the Bills alive with three field goals, with all three being hit from 50 yards or longer.

Bass was drafted due to his big leg, and Buffalo needed it against Arizona. He hit from 53-yards, 54-yards, and an outstanding 58-yards. Bass’s kicking form might be unconventional, but it’s working for Buffalo at the moment.

Stefon Diggs

The Bills were on the brink of victory due to Stefon Diggs, and Diggs throughout the game made some key plays. He came into the contest leading the NFL in receiving yards, and added to that tally, with 10 catches for 93 yards, and one touchdown. This leaves Diggs with 906 yards this season and four touchdowns.

The most impressive part of Diggs’ performance was that he was lined up against one of the best defensive backs in the league, Patrick Peterson. Diggs has consistently shown his value throughout the season, and the game against the Cardinals didn’t prove any different.

Cole Beasley

While Diggs had a great game, he wasn’t the Bills’ leading receiver, that honor falls upon Cole Beasley.

Beasley was the safety blanket for Josh Allen throughout the game, finding himself open on crucial third downs. His most impressive catch was a no-look one-handed grab on third down, that kept a Buffalo drive alive.

Beasley ended the game with 11 receptions, 109 yards, and one touchdown.

AJ Klein

Like Bass, AJ Klein hasn’t had the best start in Buffalo, but for Klein, his poor form stretched until week nine against the Seahawks. Klein extended his run of good form against the elusive Murray. Klein had 11 tackles and one sack on the day.

The Bills defense on a whole played well against one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and Klein led the charge. He was always around the football on crucial downs and making big plays. If Klein can continue his run of good form, the Bills can be serious contenders come January.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Bills 2020 midseason awards: MVP, best rookie, biggest surprise

Buffalo Bills midseason awards for the 2020 NFL season.

The Bills will start the second half of their season on Sunday in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks. Buffalo currently sits at a 6-2 record and will look to duplicate that effort over their next eight games.

But before we get there, let’s take one last time to look back at the first half of the 2020 season. Here’s Bills Wire’s first half awards:

Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ win over the Jets

The Buffalo Bills had to rally against the Jets to seal their fifth victory of the season.

The Bills needed a bounce back after two consecutive loses to the Chiefs and Titans, respectively, and they got it against the Jets. It wasn’t easy, especially in the first half, but the Bills rallied from being down 10-0, to pull out an 18-10 victory.

The Bills needed rookies from all across the roster to make plays, whether it was fullback Reggie Gilliam, cornerback Dane Jackson, defensive end AJ Epenesa, or kicker Tyler Bass. It was a great team performance, that was marred by an inconsistent red zone offense, poor decision-making, and bad penalties.

Buffalo still pulled out the victory to sweep the Jets in 2020 and move to 5-2 on the season. With that, let’s see who performed or underperformed in New Jersey via this week’s stock report:

Stock up

Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Dane Jackson

The Bills came into their game against the Jets with a secondary that’s missing some key pieces, cornerbacks Josh Norman and Levi Wallace were both out due to injury. It’s also a secondary that hasn’t made many plays this season, but rookie Dane Jackson, in his first career game, looked up to the task. Jackson started off strong by breaking up a pass on third down to force a New York field goal early in the contest.

Jackson continued his debut by making three tackles, breaking up two more passes, and picking off quarterback Sam Darnold once. It was the type of performance that the Bills secondary hasn’t seen this season, and Jackson could have played himself into a starting role in the backend of the season.

Tyler Bass

Kicker Tyler Bass hasn’t had the best start to his NFL career, but the Bills never had to rely on the rookie… until they faced the Jets. Buffalo’s offense struggled once they made it into Jets territory, that meant Bass needed to produce. He attempted eight field goals, making six of them, with a long of 53 yards.

Frankly, Bass was one of the reasons that Buffalo beat the Jets, while Bass hasn’t been perfect this year, he showed up when his team needed him.

Cole Beasley

While Buffalo only scored 18 points they moved the ball relatively well up until the they hit the red zone and receiver Cole Beasley was a big part of that. Beasley finished the day 11 catches, a new career high, for 112 yards. Quarterback Josh Allen found Beasley on the underneath routes, and then Beasley made defenders miss when the ball was in his hands.

Beasley also made a tremendous one handed grab in the red zone, showing his awareness and great hands.

Jerry Hughes

This spot could have gone to the entire defensive line because for the first time this season the Bills generated consistent pressure with their front four. The Bills defense sacked Darnold six times, with two of the six coming from Jerry Hughes. The other four came from the likes of: Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, AJ Epenesa, and Trent Murphy.

Hughes finished the game with six tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and the game sealing interception.

Honorable mentions

Josh Allen had a bounce back performance with 368 total yards, but made some bad decisions that cost his team points. Zach Moss, the rookie back, had a strong second half, finishing the game with 72 total yards. Tyler Kroft, the lone tight end had four catches for 64 yards.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

PODCAST: Bills survive Jets; look to continue against Patriots

In a much needed victory, the Bills swept the Jets for the 2020 season. While New York put together a much better game plan this time around, it was not enough to keep the spunky Buffalo team down. The Bills now are 5-2 and move on to a much …

In a much needed victory, the Bills swept the Jets for the 2020 season. While New York put together a much better game plan this time around, it was not enough to keep the spunky Buffalo team down. The Bills now are 5-2 and move on to a much anticipated game against the New England Patriots.

The Jets led for the entire first half of the game, a surprising result for a team that hasn’t led much all year. Their offense finding some rhythm against the Bills defense. Frank Gore ripped off several big runs, and the Jets passing game looked relatively effective. That all changed in the second half however.

A testament to the Bills defense, which has mostly been a first half team this year, they stopped any momentum that Sam Darnold and the Jets offense had built. Combining that with effective offensive play, that couldn’t quite find the end zone, but moved the ball well enough for the Bills rookie kicker Tyler Bass to hit six field goals, and you have a gritty team victory.

While it wasn’t the world-beating Bills victory that we hoped to see, it was certainly a step in the right direction after two losses to great AFC contenders. There was a lot to build off of in this game, as the team pulls itself up by the bootstraps and heads toward their much tougher portion of the schedule.

Podcast hosts Matt and David take you through the Week 7 encounter between the Bills and Jets.

Subscribe

 

Bills K Tyler Bass: ‘It’s about what you do after a miss’

Entering today’s game vs. the New York Jets, Bills kicker, Tyler Bass, had had an up and down rookie season.

https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=Rs9RyIKudu-1014468-7498&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json

Entering today’s game vs. the New York Jets, Bills kicker Tyler Bass, was having an up and down rookie season.

Bass started his NFL career 6 for 9 (67%,) with one of his misses coming before halftime last week vs. the Chiefs, in a game where his team really could have used the points. Others came in his first-career game, Buffalo’s season opener against the Jets, which were near chip-shot territory.

After releasing veteran Stephen Hauschka and handing the job to Bass, some were starting to wonder had Buffalo made the right move, entrusting the kicking duties to a rookie on a team that is expected to compete now.

In Week 7, Bass did his best to silence those critics.

After missing a 48-yard kick at the start of the game, Bass nailed a 53-yarder and was off and running.

Bass finished the day 6 for 8, accounting for all 18 of the Bills points leading them to the victory. After the 18-10 win, Bass had a very levelheaded approach to it all despite having just attempted eight field goals.

“It’s really not about how many you make,” Bass told the media via a Zoom call after the game. “It’s about what you do after a miss, after something goes wrong. Anyone can handle stuff when things are easy, it’s just about… when something goes wrong, it’s about how you handle that. You don’t let it define you… you just trust everything you’d done in practice that week and you just put it to show.”

The CBS broadcast crew was also heard poking fun at Bass during the game for wearing eye black under only one of his eyes. Turns out part of the reason is as a homage to his grandmother.

Regardless of the broadcasters, confidence was something Bass was searching for on Sunday and perhaps he found it.

“It’s a huge confidence boost to get out there and get the live reps,” Bass said.

While Bass was happy to see the live reps, one can be sure that he did not expect to see that many opportunities.

The kicker set a new Bills franchise record with eight FG attempts and tied Steve Christie’s franchise record for field goals made in a game at six. That was set all the way back in 1996.

While the Bills schedule doesn’t get any easier facing the Patriots and Seahawks before their bye week, the team will certainly be relying on Bass to make big kicks for them in the second half of the season.

If Sunday is any indication, perhaps despite a slow start, the rookie is up for the challenge.

[lawrence-related id=72081,72071,72068]

Bills Wire’s Week 7 Player of the Game: K Tyler Bass

Though he wasn’t perfect, Bass scored every point for the Bills against the New York Jets.

https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=fU92e9cDXn-1014420-7498&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json

With the Buffalo Bills moving to 5-2 after a much needed, hard-fought victory, the Bills Wire Week 7 Player of the Game is kicker Tyler Bass.

Though he wasn’t perfect, Bass scored every point for the Bills against the New York Jets in the 18-10 win, making the most of long, yet unfinished drives. Bass was 6-for-8 overall kicking, with his long being a 53-yarder. He also hit from 46, 37, 29, and 40 yards.

A nice sign for the rookie was him bouncing back from a miss, not once, but twice. After his first attempt sailed wide, Bass made four-straight kicks. Upon missing his second, Bass nailed two more, including one that pretty much iced the game, putting the Bills up by eight late in the game.

The Bills will face off against the New England Patriots next week, and this was a good showing for Bass. In what might be a close game, Bass building some confidence ahead of Week 8’s meeting could prove to be even more crucial to the Bills.

[lawrence-related id=72071,72068,72002]

5 takeaways from the Bills’ 18-10 win over the Jets

Takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 18-10 win over the New York Jets in Week 7.

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:

Bills kicker Tyler Bass. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Instant analysis: Bills beat themselves as Titans blowout Buffalo, 42-16

It has been a weird week for the Buffalo Bills, and even weirder two weeks for the Tennessee Titans.

It has been a weird week for the Buffalo Bills, and even weirder two weeks for the Tennessee Titans, but the two finally managed to meet to end Week 5 of the NFL season on Tuesday.

In the early stages, it was a back and forth affair with both teams scoring in the first quarter but on two very different drives. The Bills started the game with the ball, but the drive ended early with a rare Josh Allen interception. Allen made the right read on third down finding Andre Roberts who had found a hole in the Titans zone, the ball slipped through his hands and into the lap of Malcolm Butler.

That set up a two-play touchdown drive for the Titans, putting the Bills down 7-0 early on.

The Bills bounced back on their next drive though, Allen led the team down the field, finding receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis on key downs. Allen even found Andre Roberts on a third and 15, setting up their offense up deep in the Titans’ territory. The Bills red zone offense once again brought out the tricks with an Isaiah McKenzie jet sweep toss for a three-yard touchdown.

The Bills were back in business as they tie the game 7-7.

As the first quarter ended the Titans moved the ball down the field benefiting from a porous Buffalo defense. For the majority of the first half cornerback Taron Johnson was getting picked apart by Ryan Tannehill and the Titans receiving corps, it wasn’t a pretty sight for Bills fans. Johnson’s ineptness help set up the Titans second score of the half, a one-yard run from Derrick Henry.

The Titans take the lead again to begin the second quarter 14-7.

The first part of the second quarter was a battle of field position for both. Neither offenses looked to get much done, especially the Bills. Allen forced the ball to Diggs the entire first half, leading to some dangerous throws and two dropped interceptions from the Titans. Buffalo did gain some momentum though as the Bills finally put some more points on the board, a 43-yard field goal from Tyler Bass. The Bills pull it back 14-10.

After this field goal, the wheels began to fall off for the Bills entirely. A 74-yard punt from Corey Bojorquez pushed the Titans back to their own 10-yard line with just three minutes left in the half. The Bills defense needed to make a stop, but they folded. Tannehill tore open a soft Buffalo defense and led them to a score before halftime. The Titans’ third touchdown of the game was a 10-yard scramble from Tannehill. To end the half the Titans lead 21-10.

The Titans started the second half and had a tepid drive, making little headway against a reenergized Bills defense. Tremaine Edmunds broke up a Tannehill pass to force a Tennessee punt. The Bills had the opportunity to bring this game back with a score, and it went all according to plan for Buffalo. Allen was finding Cole Beasley underneath, and Stefon Diggs outside. It was a promising drive for Buffalo, and as they moved into Titans territory, Allen made a costly mistake. The quarterback dropped back and threw it to Butler on a forced passed and returned the ball 68 yards.

These backbreakers defined the game for the Bills.

Tennessee started this drive in their own red zone, and they made quick work. Tannehill found his tight end Jonnu Smith, who boxed out Dean Marlowe at the goal line, bringing the score to 28-10, breaking the camels back, essentially.

Cclosing in on the fourth quarter the Bills offense needed to put something on the board and give them a shot for any sort of comeback. Frankly, it was the drive that the Bills needed Allen looked sharp, where he again found Beasley underneath, and Diggs longer downfield. Once Buffalo got into striking distance Josh Allen threw a laser from 22 yards out to TJ Yeldon who was in the back of the end zone. Buffalo tried a two-point conversion but failed, it was still a two-score game for the Bills though.

The defense then needed a stop… Like before though, they crumbled. Tannehill and the Titans put together a six-minute drive, capped off by a Derrick Henry touchdown. This touchdown was completely preventable, but the Bills couldn’t get themselves off the field. Most of the Titans’ big plays came off errors made by the Bills defense, whether it be penalties, missing tackles, or not setting the edge. The Titans didn’t beat the Bills, Buffalo beat themselves. The Henry touchdown put Tennessee up 35-16, and it was all over.

To make matters worse for Buffalo, Andre Roberts fumbled the ball in on the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball right back to Tennessee. In just three plays Tannehill throws another touchdown to Smith.

An utter blowout at 42-16.

It was a hard pill to swallow for Buffalo because as mentioned earlier, the Bills really just beat themselves. Tennessee didn’t change their game plan, it was just an avalanche of unforced errors by the Bills.

If Allen didn’t turn the ball over the twice, and the Bills defense made a few more stops, this could have been an entirely different result. Alas, Buffalo can’t wallow for too long, because next week they host reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

[lawrence-related id=71392,71387,71357]

What we learned from Bills’ season-opening win over Jets

What We Learned, Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets, NFL Week 1.

One year ago, the Bills needed a furious fourth quarter rally to beat the Jets in the season opener, scoring 17 unanswered points to steal a win late at the Meadowlands. In the 2020 season opener, the Bills didn’t wait around to put the Jets down for the count.

Buffalo jumped out to a 21-0 lead halfway through the second quarter and were never really threatened in a dominating 27-17 victory over a Jets team that looked rather hapless. The 10-point margin of victory is not exactly indicative of how much the Bills controlled this game. Buffalo more than doubled the amount of first downs the Jets had (31-15), ran 81 total plays to the Jets’ 53, outgained the Jets by 150 yards, and dominated in time of possession (41:16 to 18:44).

Still, the Bills had enough slip ups that they allowed the Jets to hang around in the second half and keep the final score somewhat respectable. Buffalo could have been up by as much as 35 in the first half, but two Josh Allen fumbles short-circuited a pair of drives deep into Jets’ territory. The Bills then struggled for a while to deliver the knockout blow in the second half.

New placekicker Tyler Bass missed his first two field goal attempts, both in the third quarter. In between, Jets wideout Jamison Crowder slipped a Tremaine Edmunds tackle on a short pass from Sam Darnold and broke free for a 69-yard touchdown to bring the Jets within 11 (21-10) with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

The Bills locked the game down from there as Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer forced Chris Herndon to fumble on the Jets’ next possession and Jerry Hughes recovered. Bass rebounded to connect on field goal attempts of 22 and 19 yards in the fourth quarter to give the Bills a 17-point lead with 3:15 to play.

While the Bills had some hiccups along the way, they were in command from start to finish and had little trouble with the Jets on Sunday. The big story from the game was the play of Josh Allen, who became the first Bills quarterback to pass for 300 yards in a game since Tyrod Taylor in 2016 and the first since Kyle Orton in 2014 to do so in regulation. Allen completed 33 passes for 312 yards and used a well-designed passing game to pick apart a beleaguered Jets secondary. The only thing that stopped Allen was himself as he put the ball on the turf twice and had a couple of poor throws that could have gone for touchdowns if thrown accurately.

With that, are four things we learned as the Bills started the 2020 season with a victory at an empty Bills Stadium:

Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Brett Carlsen)

The Passing Game Appears to Have Taken a Step Forward 

Bills fans were treated to the full Josh Allen experience on Sunday. They saw the passing talent that has been so often promised since Allen was drafted seventh-overall in 2018. They saw efficiency and well-timed throws to open receivers. They also saw critical mistakes that Allen has become well-known for. He fumbled the ball away twice in the first half and also had some inaccurate throws that took touchdowns off the board. But overall, it might have been Allen’s most impressive game as a passer for the Bills in his three seasons in Buffalo.

Allen reached the plateau that so many Bills fans have been fixated on for years: the 300-yard passing game. It’s incredible enough that no Bills’ quarterback has done so in a game since 2016, but it becomes absolutely dumbfounding to think about how no Bills’ quarterback had thrown for 300 yards in regulation since 2014. That streak has finally been broken as Allen hit 312 yards.

The Bills’ passing game has often been a source of frustration in the past and quite frequently the weakness of many Bills’ teams from years gone by. That claim could have been made about last year’s Bills’ team. But on Sunday, the passing game looked like a strength for Buffalo.

The Bills built a 21-0 lead in the first half on the back of Allen and the passing game. Allen was sharp throwing the ball in the early going, hitting his first seven passes of the game. After an Allen fumble on Buffalo’s opening drive, they responded with three straight touchdown drives. Allen ran in for a two-yard score on the first touchdown drive and then threw touchdown passes to Zack Moss and John Brown on the next two drives.

Allen was efficient running the Buffalo offense in the first half, but much of the credit should also go to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. The Bills had a well-conceived offensive scheme as they picked on a weak Jets secondary. The Bills forced New York to expose the most vulnerable part of their defense by starting the game with four wide receivers on the field. Daboll also utilized the screen game effectively as the Bills created easy throws for Allen that were well blocked and resulted in sizable gains. The touchdown throw to Brown was an inside screen that actually came on an audible at the line of scrimmage by Allen when he saw the Jets’ secondary playing well off Brown.

The Bills also got their new toy involved. Stefon Diggs, the most notable offseason addition by the Bills, caught eight passes for 86 yards in his Buffalo debut. Six of his receptions went for first downs. His presence allowed Brown to see single coverage.

Even with Diggs in the fold, Brown still has a chance to post another big season as defenses focus their attention on the receiver the Bills traded a first round pick for. Brown enjoyed a nice day on Sunday with six catches for 70 yards and his touchdown reception.

Even though the offense was slowed a bit in the second half, they showed enough in getting out to a 21-0 lead that you have to be encouraged by their potential for the rest of the season. It’s only one game, but the passing offense certainly looks stronger to start 2020.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4