Tyler Bass's 61-yard game-winner in Week 9 is more crucial than fans think

Tyler Bass was recently on a cold streak due to his inconsistent kicker misses, which started in the later part of last season. In 2023, Bass was borderline perfect, only missing one of his 50 extra points, and didn't miss a field goal all season until he missed two against Philadelphia in Week 13.

Since then, the Bills haven't attempted a field goal until playoffs, where Bass struggled heavily, going 2/5 that postseason. The one that sent Bass over the edge was his infamous "wide right" game-tying miss against the Kansas City Chiefs late in the fourth quarter, helping the Chiefs seal the win. Since that kick, it seems that Bass lost all of his confidence.

Bass would have a chance to look past that kick by heading into the new season but looked like a different player, missing key extra points and field goals, to the point where the team signed Lucas Havrisik to the Bills practice squad after Bass' dreadful performance against the Jets.

The two kickers competed for the starting position, and Bass won, but it sent him a message that his job was on the line. Bass was perfect in his last two games, but they were short 30-40 yarders.

Bass missed one PAT and almost missed his second, but made two field goals, one from 40 and one from 49 yards. Then Bass was in a situation where he could redeem himself late in the fourth quarter to give the Bills the lead. Sean McDermott felt confident in Bass to make a career-long 61-yard game-winning field goal, which Bass ended up draining straight down the middle.

This kick means much more than just a win for the Bills, it may have helped Bass regain his confidence, which is probably the most crucial attribute of an NFL kicker, especially for a player of Bass' caliber. Fans tend to forget that Bass has the potential to make any kick all over the field. When Bass kicked that game-winner, he had enough power to make it from 65 or even 66 yards.

Making a kick like that is a big step in the right direction. Kickers tend to go into a slump for a while, and sometimes it takes one big kick to get their gears going again. There are a few examples of those with kickers.

Nick Folk used to be one of the worst kickers in the NFL a few years ago, making only 54.5% of his kicks in 2017. Then he got picked up by the Patriots a season later and had a great four seasons with them. Then, as of last year, Folk made a career high 96.7% of his kicks with Tennessee.

A more recent example is former Green Bay kicker Anders Carlson, who was very bad last year, especially with extra points. Now he's with the 49ers and hasn't missed a kick yet.

The point is Bass had a slump, but it seems like he's crawling out of it, as if he hasn't yet. However, he needs to continue being consistent and making those kicks in the clutch, which will be all more crucial down the stretch.

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