ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills pride themselves on playing complimentary football. That means playing well in all three phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams.
While sometimes special teams is the forgotten third part of that equation, when you had a month like the one Tyler Bass had, that leads not only to recognition from your team but recognition from the NFL.
Bass earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors on Thursday. The award comes after he made every single one of his kicks through the first three weeks. Bass connected on all seven field goal attempts and all 10 extra point attempts.
"His consistency is what stands out," Bills coach Sean McDermott said. "He's got a great process during the week with Sam (Martin) and Reid (Ferguson) and the resources around him. He's just a very reliable guy."
Bass said he found out he won the award on Wednesday, and while he didn't play it up too much when speaking with reporters Thursday, he did say he's "very thankful and excited about it."
"It's exciting to know that some of the work you've been putting in, it's starting to pay off, but there's still a long way to go. There's still a lot to work on," Bass said.
Just to give you an idea of how consistent and reliable Bass has been since entering the league, since 2020, he's tied with Patrick Mahomes and TJ Watt for the most AFC Player of the Month awards with three.
"Don't take that for granted," McDermott said. "He's a highly competitive young man, that doing well is important to him yet he has great perspective on things at the same time. He's extremely, extremely mentally tough."
Bass also showed off that strong leg in the early part of the season. He's made both of his field goal attempts from 50-plus yards: one against the Jets to force overtime and one against the Commanders.
He led all AFC kickers in the month of September with 31 points.