ORCHARD PARK - If ever there was going to be a day when the Miami Dolphins finally exorcised some of their demons against the Buffalo Bills, this had to be it, right?

On an idyllic western New York autumn afternoon that featured sunny skies and a 54-degree nip in the air, the Dolphins were the better team for large swaths of the game and it looked and felt like more than 70,000 patrons who endured a rollercoaster of emotions across three hours were going to be exiting the building in frustrated silence.

Instead, the Dolphins still found themselves walking to their locker room with their heads bowed, their eyes glazed over, and their ears filled with a raucous celebration because Tyler Bass kicked a franchise-record 61-yard game-winning field goal with five seconds left to give Buffalo a 30-27 victory.

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Wow.

“Man, what a story,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “T-Bass hitting a franchise record kick. And that doesn't happen by itself, so I want to make sure I give credit's due, in addition with T-Bass with Sam (Martin) and Reid (Ferguson) and the guys up front that were blocking for him. Just a big-time kick for us.”

This was a game that featured four leads changes, and three ties, the last at 27-27 when Tua Tagovailoa threw a seven-yard TD pass to Jaylen Waddle with 1:38 left. And with the Bills’ offense bumbling and stumbling on its final possession and only reaching the Miami 43, when Bass trotted into the field, it’s safe to say everyone who doesn’t draw a paycheck signed by Terry Pegula thought this game was headed to overtime.

“Exhale,” Josh Allen said minutes after Bass’ kick sailed through the uprights. “So proud of him, so happy for him. Got emotional in my little post-game speech out there, just the trials and tribulations that he’s been in throughout this year. Obviously missing one early in the day, hitting the pole in another, you know he could have easily put it in the tank and a 61-yard field goal to win a game against a division rival, it’s what stories are made of. Everybody in that locker room’s so happy for him, and he’s our guy.”

Here’s how I graded the Bills:

PASS OFFENSE: B-

Allen was not at his best and it was perplexing because he faced a Miami defense minus FS Jevon Holland, NCB Kader Kohou and DT Zach Sieler, three of the Dolphins’ most accomplished defenders. But the Dolphins did a nice job taking away his first and in some cases second and third reads, and everything came hard in the passing game as he finished 25 of 39 for 235 yards.

Keon Coleman took points off the board in the second quarter as he let a quick slant go right through his hands and Jalen Ramsey made the interception inside the 5-yard-line, just a brutal, brutal mistake that can’t happen, especially down there. He finished with just one catch for 21 yards, though he did draw a massive personal foul penalty against old friend Jordan Poyer that kept alive the game-winning drive. On that play, he got hurt, and we don’t know the extent.

Khalil Shakir was terrific, as usual, catching six of seven targets for 50 yards, most of that yardage coming after the catch. And then the supporting cast made some big contributions as Mack Hollins caught a TD on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2, plus made two catches on the last drive that got the ball to the 43 and gave Bass a chance.

RB Ray Davis took a short pass off a blitz and scampered 63 yards for a TD, and rarely-used TE Quintin Morris caught a two-yard TD on a throw that seemed impossible for Allen to complete as he was being tackled when he released it.

RUN OFFENSE: C

Not a great day for the offensive line as it struggled to move the Dolphins out of the way. James Cook had just 44 yards on 10 carries, one of them a 13-yarder, while Ty Johnson had 17 of his 23 yards on one carry. Those helped inflate the Bills’ average per carry to 4.9 yards, but it was not easy out there.

Davis had four carries for 20 yards, while Allen had a 14-yard run, but also had a 21-yard touchdown run wiped out by a holding penalty on O’Cyrus Torrence in the second quarter which forced the Bills to settle for a field goal. Dion Dawkins had a holding penalty on the play before after the Bills had reached the 11-yard line. That was one of three red zone possessions where the Bills failed to score a touchdown.

PASS DEFENSE: C

Tua Tagovailoa picked the Bills apart with his short, precise passing game as he completed 25 of 28 (one of the incompletions was a throwaway) for 231 yards and two TDs with no interceptions. No matter what anyone says about him, all his detractors of which there are many, he is a perfect fit in Mike McDaniel’s offense and the Dolphins are a completely different team when he’s playing.

Without CB Christian Benford, the Bills did a great job for the first 2 ½ quarters in taking Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out of the mix. But Hill finally got going and finished with four catches for 80 yards, his 28-yard catch setting up a go-ahead field goal in the third, a 27-yarder leading to Miami’s tying TD early in the fourth, and his 19-yarder helping lead to Miami’s tying TD late in the fourth. As for Waddle, he did nothing until that last drive when he caught a key third-down pass, then caught the tying TD from seven yards.

The Bills had a tough time containing DeVon Achane who had eight catches for 58 yards and a TD, and Raheem Mostert had two for 32 yards. They were able to take advantage of LB Dorian Williams on a few of those which is partly why Williams led the Bills with 12 tackles, several of those coming after completions. And LB Terrel Bernard did not look to be full speed as he played on a bum ankle.

The Bills had only one pass breakup, that by Rasul Douglas on a third down, and just one sack, that by Greg Rousseau who pounced when Tagovailoa was in an awkward position after a low shotgun snap.

RUN DEFENSE: D

Miami’s offensive line won the line of scrimmage. It was able to gash the Bills between the tackles and Achane (63 yards) and Mostert (56) both took advantage. Combined, those two averaged 5.4 yards per attempt. The DT duo of Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones did not hold the point, and backups Eli Ankou and Austin Johnson weren’t much better.

Again, it looked like Bernard was a step off despite making eight tackles. One way to judge how the run defense played is tackles by safeties because if they’re making a bunch, that’s usually a problem. Well, Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp each made 10.

Rousseau was solid as three of his seven tackles went for lost yardage, while Rapp and Kaiir Elam - who filled in pretty well for Benford - each had one tackle for loss. Elam also recovered a Mostert fumble early in the third that was forced by Taron Johnson,

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

Hey, I gotta give it up to Bass. You make a 61-yarder, that’s going to carry the grade. Yes, he missed a PAT, but he also made a 49-yard field goal at the end of the first half, and a 40-yarder in the first quarter.

Sam Martin punted only once and it was a beautiful 49-yarder, on which Cam Lewis made a great open-field tackle on Malik Washington at the Miami 17.

Brandon Codrington’s only touch came early in the game when he fielded a bad 37-yard Jake Bailey punt on a hop and raced up the right sideline for a 29-yard return to the Miami 37 which set up Bass’ first field goal.

COACHING: C+

McDermott has to be given credit on a weekly basis for how his team stays engaged, even when things aren’t going well. This was another sluggish start for the Bills, but once again they found a way to turn things around with a 24-point second half.

His challenge on Tagovailoa’s fourth-down scramble was close. I could see that he thought his shin was down before he reached for the line to gain, but that’s always going to be tough to win. Losing it cost the Bills a timeout, one that could have come in handy on the final possession.

On offense, Joe Brady had a tough time getting a handle on what the Dolphins were doing, though he wasn’t helped by Allen who was off target more than he usually is. And on defense, Bobby Babich was out-schemed by McDaniel, especially in the short passing game as too many guys were able to flash open. It’s not great when you force only three incompletions.

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 report card: Tyler Bass bails out Buffalo to eke past Dolphins