Sean McDermott on Tyler Bass' missed field goal against Carolina: 'Those are ones he's gotta make'

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Sean McDermott on Tyler Bass' missed field goal against Carolina: 'Those are ones he's gotta make'

Sean McDermott left no room for second-guessing Saturday. Asked about kicker Tyler Bass’ missed 51-yard field-goal attempt against the Carolina Panthers, the Buffalo Bills’ coach expressed a clear expectation that Bass didn't meet.
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Sean McDermott left no room for second-guessing Saturday.

Asked about kicker Tyler Bass’ missed 51-yard field-goal attempt against the Carolina Panthers, the Buffalo Bills’ coach expressed a clear expectation that Bass didn't meet.

“Those are ones he’s gotta make,” McDermott said. “He knows that. It looked like it faded a little bit to the right there, so it’s a kick he’s going to practice a million times this week. But yeah, he’s got to have it.”

Bass’ attempt was by no means a gimme, but the miss, which came during the fourth quarter of the team’s 31-26 loss to the Panthers in the preseason finale at Highmark Stadium, was the continuation of what has been a shaky summer.

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Bills kicker Tyler Bass went 1 for 2 on field goals Saturday against the Panthers. Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
The Bills’ kicker finished 6 for 7 on field goals in preseason games. That sounds like good news, but not so fast. Only one of those field goals was longer than 31 yards – remember, an extra point is from 33 yards out – and that was a 49-yarder in the opener against Chicago.

“I think it went well,” Bass said of his preseason. “You know, you go through that, you pick a process and you just keep working on it, working on it until you feel like you mastered it and get ready to go for the season.

Bass’ performance in practice, which has been open to media since the start of training camp, has been mediocre. Against the Panthers, Bass made the 31-yarder to end Buffalo's first drive but missed the 51-yarder kicking to the scoreboard end of the stadium in the fourth quarter.

“Every kick, you treat it the same,” he said. “So every kick, you go out there, it's the same process. We were fortunate enough to have seven opportunities, and I feel like I got good work.”

Practice misses won’t matter in September, when the games start to count.

“Practice is practice. You're practicing. You're there to work on things,” he said. “You miss a couple, it is what it is.”

Should fans not draw any conclusions from those practice misses, then?

“I mean, you can interpret however you want. For me, I'm going out there working on things,” he said. “If it's a great day, great. If it's not a good day, it's a bad day, but I'm still taking something from that day I can use. ... Some of my best games, I've had the worst warmups.”

Bass said his confidence is not shaken. His miss against the Panthers was to the right, the same direction in which he missed during the Bills’ divisional playoff loss to the Chiefs in January. Of course, that kick had a lot more riding on it, given that it would have tied the game.

“I like it like you're only as good as your next kick,” Bass said Saturday. “So just got to get through the ball. Feel confident going through it. ... For a right-foot kicker to miss right, the fix is get through it more. You miss left, for a right-foot kicker, there might be some other things going on. ... If you miss right, you've just got to get through it more.”

Bass also missed the landing zone on a kickoff against Carolina, which is between the goal line and the 20-yard line. That resulted in a penalty that gave the Panthers the ball at their 40-yard line. On another kickoff in the first half, the Bills’ kick coverage allowed a 46-yard return to Ihmir Smith-Marsette.

“It's been crazy, man,” he said of adapting to the new kickoff rule. “I feel like every game I've gotten better at it, with the help of (special teams coordinator Matthew) Smiley, coach McDermott, kind of giving me the leeway to kind of try different things. But I feel like we're getting it down and I'm excited to see what the guys can do.”
Bass said the NFL's rule change on kickoffs hasn’t affected his preparation, because last year he was asked at times to kick the ball high, short of the goal line to avoid a touchback. He has watched how other kickers and special teams units around the league have approached the new rules this preseason.

“I don't think you're ever going to figure it out 100%, but I feel like we have a good plan going into the season,” he said. “We didn't show a whole lot the first game, but I feel like we have some things up our sleeve that if the time comes, we'll bring it out.”
 
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The Athletic: From Tyler Bass-o-matic to Bass-dra-matic: Bills kicker still battling inconsistency​


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This past week, Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass made only five of his 12 field-goal attempts from 40 yards or longer in practices and Saturday’s preseason finale.

He claimed afterward that everything is OK.

With the preseason now complete, Bass made only two field goals longer than extra-point distance in all three exhibition games, including his final try, a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter of a 31-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Highmark Stadium.

His boss was displeased.

“Those are ones he’s got to make. He knows that,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “Looked like it faded a little bit to the right there. That’s a kick he’s going to practice a million times this week. That’s one we’ve got to have.”

Bass’ struggles go back to last postseason. After he missed a crucial kick that might’ve forced overtime against the Kansas City Chiefs, fans — and probably a few gamblers — descended upon social media like locusts, causing him to delete his accounts.

The darkness led to a heartwarming, boomerang campaign that donated over $400,000 to the Ten Lives Club, a local cat adoption organization Bass champions.

Yet the Bills are in the Lombardi Trophy business. No matter how much of a feel-good story Bass has been off the field the past seven months, he must regain the consistency he seems to have lost somewhere along the line to earn his keep.

Bass stopped to chat with a couple reporters Saturday while walking toward the Highmark Stadium parking lot. He was completely chill while answering pointed questions about his inconsistencies. He expressed satisfaction in his preparation for 2024.

“I feel good. I’m excited. I’m grateful,” Bass said.

Bass has job security. Bills general manager Brandon Beane, in a pregame interview with WIVB Channel 4, indicated the kicker’s job is safe. Bass last year signed a four-year contract extension worth $20.4 million and $9.41 million in guarantees. If the Bills were to cut him, then they would absorb dead salary-cap hits of $4.32 million this season and $3.06 million next season.

Big dead-cap figures can adhere an overpaid player to a roster. Take edge rusher Von Miller, for instance. At least the Bills can put the 35-year-old in favorable down-and-distance matchups where he still might be able to make an impact.

There’s no such thing as a kicker rotation. The coach can’t deploy different kickers, depending on the situation. No teammate can line up somewhere to create a mismatch that helps the kicker beat the goal posts.

So while it would be uncomfortable for Beane to accommodate a Bass release, when kickers can’t make their field goals, they’ve got to go — cap hit be damned.

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Tyler Bass’ consistency holds greater significance for a Bills team that has played in many close games under Sean McDermott. (David Dermer / AP Photo)

In the McDermott era, 21 percent of Buffalo’s games have been decided by three points or fewer, 32 percent the past two seasons. The Bills went 5-2 in such games while Stephen Hauschka still was their kicker, 10-9 since they drafted Bass in 2020.

Those records don’t necessarily reflect whether a kicker was the deciding factor, but those wins and losses reflect how close the margin is, how important field goals are, how pivotal to Buffalo’s success Bass’ consistency will be.

Bass has been shaky in practices the past couple of weeks. Bass said he approaches those kicks as he would in a game, but then seemed to contradict himself when asked about the significance of practice misses.

“Preseason’s a little more intentional,” Bass said, “but you try to treat practice the same way, to be honest with you. Treat them all the same.”

Then he minimized practice misses when asked about them specifically.

“Practice is practice, man,” Bass said. “You’re practicing. You’re there to work on things. You miss a couple; it is what it is. … If it’s a great day, great. If it’s not a good day, it’s a bad day, but I’m still taking something from that day to use. Some of my best games, I’ve had the worst warmups. The older you get, you just have to navigate like that.”

Bass wasn’t tested by distance in preseason games, although he effectively coped with some ugly weather.

Only one of his attempts was longer than an extra point. He made field goals from 24 yards and 49 yards against the Bears in nasty Highmark Stadium winds. Thunderstorms shortened the Bills’ pregame warmup to a half hour last week in Pittsburgh. Then he made field goals from 27, 26 and 31 yards.

Bass made another 31-yarder in the first quarter Saturday. The Bills later scored their first preseason touchdown, allowing Bass an extra point toward the end of the first quarter. But a Panthers penalty led McDermott to erase the play and try a two-point conversion instead. The Bills also went for two after their second touchdown, and then had Bass tack the extra point on the third touchdown with 1:57 left in the game.

“I think it went well,” Bass said of his summer. “You just keep working on it and working on it until you feel you’ve mastered it and you’re ready for the season.

“Every kick, you treat it the same. So every kick you go out there, it’s the same process. We were fortunate enough to have seven (field-goal) opportunities, and I feel like we got good work.”

For many, Bass won’t regain the trust he earned with that contract extension until he makes big kicks in the regular season.

He has swayed from Bass-o-matic to Bass-dra-matic.

“It’s just about the adrenaline,” Bass said of ramping up from the preseason to the regular season, which opens Sept. 8 versus the Arizona Cardinals. “Adrenaline can be used in a positive way and really help you. So that’s the only thing you’ve got to kind of pull together and use it to your advantage, but that just comes with experience.”

Last year, Bass was flawless through five games. Then he missed three of his next four field-goal attempts, all wide right from 52, 53 and 42 yards. He missed an extra point in the Week 11 slaughter of the New York Jets, and, a week later in the wrenching overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, he made only two of his four field goals; one was blocked, the other flipped wide right yet again.

He regathered in December and was perfect over the final five games of the regular season.

The playoffs, however, turned dreadful again. Bass made just two of his five attempts. Against the Steelers, he had a 49-yarder blocked and missed a 27-yarder wide left. In the three-point loss to the Chiefs, his 44-yard attempt went wide right with 1:43 to play.

Bass is only 27 years old. He has flourished in the gig before. As a rookie, he broke the Bills’ scoring record with 141 points and the next season posted 135 points, with Steve Christie (140 points in 1998) and O.J. Simpson (138 points in 1975, when the NFL season was 14 games) in between.

Since the Bills drafted Bass, he ranks third in NFL scoring behind only Las Vegas Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson and Baltimore Ravens legend Justin Tucker.

“I look at it like you’re only as good as your next kick,” Bass said. “So you’ve just got to get through the ball, feel confident going through it.”

The Bills better hope that restoration will prove as easy as it sounds.
 
You didn’t read the article. I’d cut 4.3 dead cap this year 3.92 next year. After that paragraph the rest of the article became translucent and faded like the McFlys photograph in Back to the Future.
 
Even more concerning that Bass missing kicks is the fact that we seem to be doing NOTHING about it. They didn't even bring in another leg for preseason just to get Bass thinking about his shit even if they never planned on making a change.

Now we'll be forced to drop a game or two before being forced to make a change.
 
Victor7 said:
Even more concerning that Bass missing kicks is the fact that we seem to be doing NOTHING about it. They didn't even bring in another leg for preseason just to get Bass thinking about his shit even if they never planned on making a change.

Now we'll be forced to drop a game or two before being forced to make a change.
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Exactly why I ask why he's still here. He was wretched last year and started missing important kicks the year before.
Now he's just as bad?
 
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