The Buffalo Bills emerge victorious from a thrilling and thrilling finale against the Miami Dolphins, winning their Week 9 battle by a score of 30-27. The Bills made it difficult for themselves, but although the Dolphins gave their best and Buffalo gave their worst, the Bills found just enough plays to come out of this game with a season sweep of their rival and continue their unbeaten streak in the division.

Below, we’ll look at Sunday’s most inspiring players, the player who gives us a little pause, the side of the ball that needs a better performance, and a side of the ball that had a truly boring outing.

An obvious positive for the Bills this season is the fact that they can really rely on all three of their running backs. Reigning Pro Bowler James Cook is the clear leader, and when he’s decisive and pushing downhill, he’s hard to stop. Rookie guard Ray Davis’ aggressive, offensive running style makes it difficult for defenses to hold up throughout the game, and his pass-catching ability is underrated. Ty Johnson has been a great utility player for his ability to do everything adequately, even spectacularly. With all three of these players being contributors on both the ground and through the air, the Bills can use them at any time without wondering if it’s a run or a pass. It is incredibly valuable to be able to use all three as necessary while knowing how to maximize their individual strengths.

Related: The highlights and misses of the Bills’ hard-fought 30-27 win over the Dolphins

Wow.

Let’s break down what happened here. Tyler Bass made his first two field goals from 40+ yards, but scored his first extra point. He hit another PAT off the upright later and was then asked to bail out the Bills on a 61-yard field goal with minimal time remaining. Not only did Bass make the seemingly incredibly long field goal, but he also cleared the goal posts an additional five yards. It’s been a tough season for Bass, and it’s been documented multiple times in these recaps. The Bills felt the pressure of Bass’ struggles, calling up Lucas Havrisik to the practice squad and others during tryouts. Ultimately, the Bills opted for Bass, hoping he would regain his confidence as the season progressed. Frankly, if a game-winning 61-yard field goal doesn’t do it, I’m not sure anything will. The question is simply: will this continue? Will Bass use this as a springboard for the rest of this season? Will the Bills feel more confident in him, especially in clutch situations? Time will tell, but this particular writer feels pretty confident in saying that bass is back on the menu.

After a few weeks where the Bills passing attack seemed to be in order, they struggled quite a bit in Sunday’s outing against the Dolphins. Josh Allen struggled to get the ball to his playmakers consistently, and when he did, those playmakers didn’t do enough with the ball. James Cook struggled to make defenders miss in space and dropped a pass that could have also scored. Keon Coleman made a major blunder in the red zone, letting a ball slip through his hands and ultimately end up in Jalen Ramsey’s attic. After that, no one else (except Khalil Shakir, who finished the day with six catches for 50 yards) was able to consistently get open against the Dolphins’ coverage. The crowning glory of it all was the Bills offensive line struggling to get protections correct, allowing too many pressures simply based on mental errors. After taking steps forward in recent weeks, this felt like a step backwards. The absence of Amari Cooper probably plays a bit into that role, but there have been plenty of issues beyond that, and Buffalo needs to address those issues sooner rather than later.

The Bills defense was lackluster to say the least against Miami. There are certainly various reasons for this, but the clearest and most glaring is the inability of the Bills defensive line to do anything on Sunday. They failed to get out of blocks, failed to make tackles when given the chance, failed to generate pressure and failed to take the lead at any point of the match. This was an extremely difficult game for this defensive line, and a difficult season for the unit as a whole. Many of the problems against Miami have surfaced in other games, but never to this extent, and never all at once. For a team that invested and paid a lot of money in the defensive line, they got very little in return this season.

DaQuan Jones is starting to show his age, Ed Oliver hasn’t made an impact for most of the season, and Von Miller’s first game back from injury was disappointing. Only Greg Rousseau and AJ Epenesa have provided consistent play for the Bills defensive line this season. Many Bills fans this offseason seemed to celebrate the departure of defensive line coach Eric Washington, who took a job as defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears…the same Chicago Bears who are currently in the top 10 in the league in sacks, while the Bills struggle to simply gain an edge against a two-win Dolphins team. While the Bills could make a move at the deadline for a defensive lineman like the Titans’ Sebastian Joseph-Day or the Browns’ Za’Darius Smith, it will only be a band-aid if the rest of the unit is unable to get back on top. their game for the rest of the season.

Related: WATCH: Bills K Tyler Bass receives game ball after game-winning kick against Dolphins

The Bills will travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts, who may still choose to go with an old Joe Flacco at quarterback. At 7-2 and with firm control of the AFC East, the Bills should be able to feel very good about where they are this season despite a few stumbles and mistakes along the way. A win against the Colts to get to 8-2 would be an incredible accomplishment for this team at this point in the season.

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