What Bills HC Sean McDermott said about Tyler Bass' game-winning kick

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott praised kicker Tyler Bass after his 61-yard Week 9 field goal.

Nico Salimbene | 15 Hours Ago

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There probably isn't a word to describe the exact emotion Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass felt right after making a franchise record-setting 61-yard game-winning field goal to secure a Week 9 victory over the Miami Dolphins. Putting his last few weeks into perspective, this kick could turn out to be career-saving.

There isn't a position in the NFL that seems to have as much turnover as kicker, and Bass almost saw the reality of that. Following his rough outing on Monday Night Football against the New York Jets earlier this year, the Bills signed Lucas Havrisik to their practice squad to provide competition. Havrisik was released last week, a vote of confidence for Bass; after his game-winner on Sunday, Bass most likely secured his role on this team through the end of the season.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who said he was concerned with Bass' kicking earlier this season, spoke on Bass' game-winner during his postgame press conference, expressing immense pride in the veteran.

"What a story, man. What a story," the head coach said of his kicker. "T-Bass hitting a franchise-record kick, and that doesn’t happen by itself. I want to make sure I give credit where credit’s due in addition to T-Bass, with Sam [Martin] and Reid [Ferguson], and the guys up front that were blocking for him. Just big time kick for us."

McDermott went on to talk about the tribulation Bass has endured to this point, stating that his Sunday make came as a result of the 27-year-old eliminating outside noise and staying dedicated to his craft.

"I just think, overall, that, here’s a young man that has been going through it," McDermott said. "The journey that he’s been on week-to-week, the questions that have been asked of him, of me, but really just in terms of him having to field, it’s natural, it’s the business we’re in. I think it’s a great example of mental toughness, I think it’s a great example of perseverance, resilience, and for young kids out there, right? Here’s a player that was under the microscope pretty darn hard, and we brought a player in here to compete with him mid-season, and he didn’t back down.

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"I think that says a lot about who he is. This journey will continue, but it also speaks to our locker room of, even today’s game, we missed the extra point, I think it was. He was going to have to make a kick later, and he made it in a convincing fashion. This game is as much mental as it is physical, and sometimes even more mental. I couldn’t be more proud of him and what he did today."

Bass' 61-yard kick broke a Bills franchise record. The previous record was held by Steve Christie, who hit one from 59 yards in 1993. The Bills are the second-to-last team in the NFL to have a kicker make a field goal of at least 60 yards. The last team remaining is the Green Bay Packers, who have a franchise record of 58 yards.

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