Seems like McD (finally) figured out to take the wind for the 4th quarter, since Miami got the ball to start the 2nd half. Because of that, even on a relatively calm day (for OP - 10mph), a wind-aided 61-yarder is going to be a completely different animal than a 66-yarder the other way. Even a 3-4 second play to get 6-7 yards, in the other direction, is much less of a probability than a 60-yarder the direction Bass was kicking. Every kickoff that direction was going out of the end zone, it was a real thing.
In this case, I think it was very good game day decision making from McD, and it paid off with a W.