The Bills crushed the Dolphins and extended their AFC East lead with a 30-27 victory.

The Buffalo Bills are coming off a thrilling, nail-biting finish against the Miami Dolphins, winning their Week 9 showdown 30-27. The Bills made it difficult for themselves, but despite the Dolphins having the best record and Buffalo having the worst record, the Bills found enough plays to come out of this game with a win over their season rival and move on its undefeated streak in the division.

Below, we take a look at Sunday’s most inspiring players, the player who gives us a little pause, the side of the ball that needs better play, and the side of the ball that made for a truly tiring game.

A clear plus that the Bills have this season is the fact that they can truly rely on all three of their running backs. Reigning Pro Bowler James Cook is undoubtedly a leading player and when he is determined and accelerates downhill he is difficult to stop. Rookie Ray Davis’ aggressive, attacking style of play makes it difficult to defend throughout the game, and his pass-catching ability is underrated. Ty Johnson was a great player because of his ability to do everything adequately, if not spectacularly. All three players contributing both on the ground and in the air allow the Bills to use them at any time without determining whether it is a run or a pass. It’s incredibly valuable to be able to use all three when needed while knowing how to maximize their individual strengths.

Connected: Spikes and trinkets after the Bills’ blowout 30-27 win over the Dolphins.

Wow.

Let’s figure out what happened here. Tyler Bass made his first two field goals from over 40 yards out, but missed his first extra point. He later hit another shot into the uprights and was then asked to bail out the Bills on a 61-yard field goal with little time remaining. Not only did Bass kick a seemingly impossibly long field goal, but it also sailed over the goal post a full five extra yards. It’s been a tough season for Bass, as has been documented many times in these reviews. The Bills felt the pressure of Buss’ struggles, taking Lukas Havrisik to the practice squad and others as a tryout. The Bills ultimately drafted Bass, hoping he would regain his confidence sometime during the season. Honestly, if a game-winning 61-yard field goal doesn’t help, I’m not sure anything will. The question is simply, will this continue? Will Bass use this as a springboard for the rest of the season? Will the Bills be more comfortable with him, especially in clutch situations? Time will tell, but this particular writer is pretty confident in saying that Bass is back on the menu.

After weeks of looking okay, the Bills’ passing attack struggled in Sunday’s game against the Dolphins. Josh Allen consistently struggled to get the ball to his playmakers, and when he did, those playmakers didn’t handle the ball enough. James Cook struggled to force defenders into space and played a pass that could have also been scored. Keon Coleman made a major gaffe in the red zone as the ball went through his hands and ended up in Jalen Ramsey’s breadbasket. After that, no one else (except Khalil Shakir, who finished the day with six catches for 50 yards) was able to consistently get open against the Dolphins’ coverage. The cap to it all was that the Bills offensive line struggled to provide proper coverage, allowing too much pressure simply based on mental errors. After the steps forward taken in the last few weeks, this felt like a step back. The absence of Amari Cooper likely contributes to that to some extent, but there were plenty of issues beyond that and Buffalo needs to address those issues sooner rather than later.

The Bills’ defense against Miami was lackluster, to say the least. There are various reasons for this, of course, but the most obvious and glaring reason is the inability of the Bills defensive line to do anything on Sunday. They failed to escape blocks, failed to make tackles when they had the opportunity, failed to create pressure and failed to establish an advantage at any point in the game. It was an extremely tough game for this defensive line, and it was a tough season for the unit as a whole. Many of the problems against Miami showed up in other games, but never to this extent and never all at once. For a team that has invested and paid a lot of money into its defensive line, it has received very little in return this season.

DaQuan Jones is starting to show his age, Ed Oliver hasn’t produced much of the season, and Von Miller’s first game back from injury was disappointing. Only Greg Russo and AJ Epenesa have provided consistent play on the Bills defensive line this season. Many Bills fans during the offseason seemed to celebrate the departure of defensive line coach Eric Washington, who took a job as defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears…the same Chicago Bears who currently rank in the top 10 in the league in sacks, while… while the Bills struggle to simply gain an edge over a two-win Dolphins team. While the Bills could make a move at the deadline for a defensive lineman like the Titans’ Sebastian Joseph-Day or the Browns’ Za’Darius Smith, it would only be a Band-Aid if the rest of the unit can’t lift him up . their game until the end of the season.

Connected: WATCH: Bills K Tyler Bass Receives Game Ball After Game-winning Kick vs. Dolphins

The Bills will travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts, who may still prefer to play an aging Joe Flacco at quarterback. At 7-2 and firmly in control of the AFC East, the Bills should be able to feel pretty good about where they are this season, despite some stumbles and mistakes along the way. An 8-2 win over the Colts would be an incredible accomplishment for this team at this point in the season.

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