Winners and losers: 5 takeaways from Bills dramatic win over Dolphins

Facing what was essentially a must-win situation, the Miami Dolphins gave the Buffalo Bills all they could handle on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park.

But Sean McDermott's squad once again overcame a sluggish start and ultimately walked away with a hard-fought 30-27 victory thanks to another strong performance from Josh Allen and, of course, a dramatic 61-yard field goal from Tyler Bass in the final seconds.

Buffalo wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but a win is a win. Now at 7-2, the Bills are essentially a lock to win the AFC East for the fifth straight season, as they've got a full four-game lead over the second-place New York Jets with eight games to play.

It's not that the Bills can't lose the division, but it's highly unlikely. Now with two wins over the Dolphins, they'll win the tiebreaker if Miami magically turns things around. They've also already beaten the Jets once, with their second matchup set for Week 17.

Buffalo also has its two games with the last-place New England Patriots left to play, which will take place in Weeks 16 and 18. So, again, this race is over. But let's not jump too far ahead and start looking at Buffalo's possible playoff opponents just yet.

For now, let's have a look at some winners and losers from the Bills' victory over the Dolphins.

Winner: Tyler Bass

Let's kick things off (pun intended) with the biggest winner of the day: Tyler Bass.

It's no secret that Bass struggled at times early in the season. Things even got so bad that Buffalo brought in competition. And for a minute against Miami, it looked as if those issues had returned, as he missed an extra-point attempt following Mack Hollins' touchdown reception to open the second half and nearly missed another later on, bouncing it off the upright and in.

But McDermott put full faith in his kicker in the end, and it resulted in the longest field goal in franchise history, breaking the previous mark of 59 yards, set by Steve Christie in 1993. Bass was presented with the game ball in the locker room and became extremely emotional, which is understandable given his up-and-down season thus far.

This was obviously one of the ups, and it will do nothing but give him more confidence moving forward.

Winner: Josh Allen

Okay, so Josh Allen threw an interception for the second straight week, upping his season total to two, which is obviously still phenomenal given his past issues with turnovers.

But beyond the pick, the NFL MVP candidate played yet another strong game, particularly in the second half.

Very inconsistent over the first 30 minutes, Allen settled in and tossed all three of his touchdown passes in the second 30, ultimately ending the day having completed 25 of 39 passes for 235 yards. His 17 touchdown passes are now tied for the fourth-most in the NFL.

And let's get real here. His little flip touchdown pass to Quintin Morris in the fourth quarter was ridiculous.

Winner: Ray Davis

After filling in beautifully for James Cook a few weeks back against the Jets, rookie running back Ray Davis didn't get a ton of touches in the two games that followed.

And it's not as if the fourth-rounder touched the ball all that often against the Dolphins. But when he did, he made it count.

The Bills chose not to go the ground game all that often on Sunday, running the ball just 19 times. But Davis got four of those carries and rushed for 20 yards. But he did a lot more damage as a receiver, catching two passes for 70 yards, 63 of which came on a dynamic catch-and-run touchdown in the third quarter that helped Buffalo take a 20-13 lead.

Davis has become a fantastic second option in the backfield, and it wouldn't be a surprise to start seeing him get more opportunities as the season progresses.

Loser: The Bills in the first half

As it's gone several times this season, the Bills struggled to get things going in the first half against the Dolphins, only to pick things up over the final 30 minutes to get a victory.

Sunday marked the fifth time this season that Buffalo has trailed at the break, a group of games that includes their losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. In those five games, Buffalo was outscored 75-29 in the first half, winning the second half by a combined margin of 96-41.

Overall, the Bills have outscored opponents 146-58 over the final 30 minutes, including a 24-17 advantage over Miami on Sunday. They actually have a +13 overall margin in the first half (121-108), but if you take away the 34-3 lead they took on the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3, it drops to -18.

The ability to adjust is undoubtedly a great trait for a team to have. But if the Bills continue to get down early, especially when they face better teams, their luck is going to run out eventually.

Loser: The Buffalo run defense

After the Bills allowed the Ravens to rush for 271 yards in Week 4, the Buffalo run defense vastly improved in the four games that followed, allowing just 84.0 yards per game.

But they took a step backward on Sunday, allowing the Dolphins to run for 149 yards and giving up 4.8 yards per carry.

It obviously turned out not to matter against Miami as the Bills got the victory. Still, with upcoming games against several teams with strong rushing attacks, it's certainly something to monitor.