ORCHARD PARK - There should have been no doubt in the minds of the Buffalo Bills that they were going to get the very best the Miami Dolphins had Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.

This was a desperate team playing to save its season, knowing that a sixth loss in eight games would be crushing to their chances of ever catching the Bills in the AFC East, or even earning one of the three AFC wild-card berths.

Then you mix in the fact that Miami was so overdue to get one over on the Bills after losing 12 of the 14 games between the teams since Sean McDermott took over as head coach in Buffalo, it felt like it was Miami’s time and sure enough, the Dolphins played their best game of the season.

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“I think the team recognizes that they played a better brand of football,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel acknowledged.

And still, it wasn’t good enough, and this one could not have ended more cruelly and unimaginably as embattled Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass made a 61-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to give the Bills a thrilling 30-27 victory.

“Obviously frustrated we lost,” said Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer. “Proud of the way we fought. Went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league. Coming down to a (61)-yard field goal to lose the game, it’s tough.”

It was a career-long kick for Bass, his previous high 58 yards in 2020 against Arizona. And it came on a day when he missed an extra point earlier in the game, a lost point that was looking a little hazardous, if only briefly.

No one knows how snakebit Miami must feel than Buffalo. After all, this is exactly the way it used to be for the Bills whenever they played the Patriots during that horrific period in team history when Bill Belichick and Tom Brady spent two decades dominating them. Or, like it was back in the 1970s when the Bills went zero-for-the-decade against Don Shula’s Dolphins.

“It’s a tough division loss, one that guys strained to try to get but in this place if you turn the ball over, which we had one, they have a very high percentage of winning and it was tough to overcome that,” McDaniel said.

Here are some of my observations:

Tyler Bass earned some redemption

Two weeks ago, Bass’ job was on the line. The Bills signed free agent kicker Lucas Havrisik to their practice squad, and int he days leading up to the Titans games, they actually had a competition and the winner was going to be active. Bass was the winner and against the Titans and Seahawks he made all 11 of his kicks - three field goals, eight extra points - Havrisik was released a few days ago.

But after making 40- and 49-yard field goals in the first half, he missed a third-quarter extra point and all the doubting in the fan base was rekindled.

In his first four years in the NFL, Bass missed just five PATS on 210 attempts, but this was his third miss this year in just nine games, but the team still believes in him, and he has never lost confidence in his ability.

“It means everything, very emotional,” he said. “Haven't really processed it yet, but just putting in a lot of work, man, and was just focused on right here, right now, the present and being patient with everything. You're gonna go through ups and downs, but just continue to put your best foot forward.”

Bass said that through his inconsistency, which began in the second half of last season and boiled to a head in the playoffs, his teammates have stuck by his side which is why he was so excited to come through Sunday.

“Means everything, it’s why you play the game, you play it for your teammates and the fact that they've had my back since day one,” he said. “I’d do anything for them, and I’m gonna have their back as long as my career is here.”

The last drive wasn’t exactly artistic

What led to Bass’ winning field goal is not going to be a drive the Bills are too proud of.

Miami tied the game with 1:38 left on Tua Tagovailoa’s touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle, and after the Bills downed the kickoff, the possession did not start well. Josh Allen was sacked on first down, had a pass tipped at the line on second down, and after a Miami offside penalty, Allen heaved one downfield to Keon Coleman that fell incomplete.

However, Poyer was nailed for a personal foul penalty to give the Bills new life. “What do you think? What do you think?” a clearly perturbed Poyer said, obviously disagreeing with the helmet-to-helmet penalty even though it was a penalty. “I’m just playing football. I thought it was a clean play. I felt like I put my helmet right in his chest.”

From there, Allen completed a big third down pass to Mack Hollins to the Miami 43 with 22 seconds left, but that was as far as the Bills would get. Allen had to spike the ball to stop the clock, then threw two poor passes, leaving Bass with the 61-yard attempt which certainly seemed unmakeable. At least until he made it.

Another slow start for the Bills

It has become a trend this season, the Bills stumbling out of the starting gate, and it nearly came back to haunt them. They overcame their slow starts to beat the Cardinals and Titans at home, and they did it again against Miami.

Yes, they managed to snatch their lead back on two occasions in the third quarter, and had a seven-point lead late in the game, but might this have gone differently, and might we have avoided the drama at the end had the Bills started better? Probably.

“Well, we want to start fast, and it’s been our Achilles’ heel,” Allen said. “And we feel like we’re at our best in the third and fourth quarter, getting off to a hot start. But if we can put that in the first and second quarter, we’re going to be a really tough team to beat.”

They have now trailed at halftime in five of their games, and it’s an issue that will continue to be talked about with this team, but hey, they keep finding ways to regain their balance as the games go on.

Keon Coleman’s mishap was a 14-point swing

Last week in Seattle, there could not have been a clearer turning point in Buffalo’s victory. It was the goal-line stand the defense made that prevented the Seahawks from taking the lead in the second quarter, and the Buffalo offense turned around and drove 93 yards to the touchdown that sent the Bills on their way to a 31-10 blowout.

Sunday, it went the other way for the Bills as Coleman allowed a perfect pass on a quick slant inside the 5-yard line that would have been a touchdown go through his arms and right to Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey for a game-changing interception.

Miami took over at the 3 and drove 97 yards in 14 plays, chewing 8:21 off the clock, to take a 10-3 lead and it sure felt like a huge point in the game.

The rookie has to be better than that, and you would hope he’ll take that hard lesson to heart. The simple inability to make a play that every receiver has to make provided a massive 14-point swing in the game. He did redeem himself, slightly, by catching a two-point conversion pass in the third quarter that gave the Bills a 20-13 lead. And then on the Poyer penalty, he was the target on that deep shot.

“Yeah, just trusting him,’ Allen said. “Third and long, biggest play of the game, throwing it up for him and obviously we get the flag to extend the drive, but I trust him implicitly and I love the guy, hope that he’s ok.”

Yes, Coleman hurt his wrist and left the field before the end of the game. The Bills have suddenly had a spate of wrist injuries as that’s what kept Amari Cooper and Christian Benford out of the game, and Dawuane Smoot hurt his wrist and couldn’t finish.

Bills were terribly sloppy in the first half

As part of the slow start, the drive at the end of the half was kind of a mess. The Bills moved to a first down at the Miami 11 and were poised to tie the game going into intermission before this happened. Dion Dawkins got flagged for holding, and then Allen’s 21-yard scramble up the middle for a touchdown was wiped out by a holding call on O’Cyrus Torrence.

Now in an impossible first-and-30 at the 31, Allen threw three straight incomplete passes, one that was dropped by Khalil Shakir which was news in itself, one that he dirted in front of Dalton Kincaid, and one that he had to throw away because no one was open.

Fortunately for the Bills, Bass was able to make a 49-yard field goal to at least rescue three points before the first half ended, starting quite a crazy day for him.

Taron Johnson’s forced fumble

The second half looked like it was going the same as the first half when the Dolphins took the kickoff and immediately started moving thanks to Raheem Mostert’s seven-yard run and his 15-yard pass reception. But on the next snap, as he was churning through the defense for another nice gain, Taron Johnson punched the ball out and Kaiir Elam recovered at the Buffalo 36.

Johnson was injured in the first half and was down for several minutes and it looked like it might be serious enough that his day could have ended. But he was able to jog off and did not go to the medical tent, and was back on the field a few minutes later.

Johnson is without question one of the most important players on the Buffalo defense, and he proved it yet again with this big play. They cannot afford to lose him because the drop off to Cam Lewis is significant.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills break Dolphins' hearts with Tyler Bass' improbable field goal