After beating the Chiefs, The 9-2 Buffalo Bills are in their bye week, so it's a great time to take a look at the team and think about what the stretch run, and the playoffs, could look like.
Coming out of the bye, the Bills will host a desperate San Francisco 49ers team that's in a slugfest of mediocrity for the NFC West crown. Currently, the Cardinals are 6-4, and the Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers are all 5-5. It's anybody's division, but none of the teams look like they're knocking on the door to represent the conference in the Super Bowl.
Still, the 49ers will be a very challenging opponent, especially now with a healthy Christian McCaffrey in the backfield. After that matchup, the Bills will travel to Los Angeles to play the rams, followed by a trip to Detroit on December 15th in what will be their toughest test remaining on the schedule.
For everyone's sake, I hope the Lions game is a Super Bowl preview. The world deserves a Lake Erie Super Bowl between two passionate and diehard fanbases that are both looking for their first Lombardi Trophy.
But I digress.
With the playoffs squarely in sight, it's a great opportunity to look at some numbers to see where the Bills stack up against the best teams in the NFL using DVOA, a metric showing how a team compares to the league average. There's a big, glaring issue, and it's one that the Bills are all too familiar with.
Special teams. Again.
And not just special teams. That largely falls on the shoulders of kicker Tyler Bass, who just can't seem to get it going.
I was having a conversation with one of my Chiefs fans colleagues before our matchup about how wonderful it must be to not have to sweat every single time his kicker lines up. Especially with a healthy Harrison Butker, Chiefs fans can use their extra point attempts as a great opportunity to use the restroom, grab a snack, maybe refresh their beverage. Bills fans, on the other hand, have to strain over something as simple as the point after.
On the season, Bass ranks 21st in field goal percentage at 86.4%, missing three kicks in the 40-49 range. Bass has also missed four extra point attempts, more than any other kicker in the league.
When games are tight, every point matters.
The Bills jumped out to a perfect start against Kansas City, intercepting Patrick Mahomes and then driving down the field for a touchdown. It couldn't have been better — and then Bass missed the extra point. It simply can't happen. In missing the extra point, it dramatically changes the mentality of an opponent. A couple drives later, when the Chiefs scored their first touchdown, their extra point put them ahead, instead of pulling even. Their second score of the game put them ahead eight, now putting Buffalo at a severe disadvantage.
Fortunately for Bass, the Bills were able to come back and win the game. But a kicker that's a wild card and has a history of missing pressure kicks is the biggest weak link in the chain of the 2024 Buffalo Bills.
