Buffalo Bills 26, Miami Dolphins 11: Quick Summary and Notes

The Buffalo Bills survived a terrible horror against their division rivals and left Goodbye Week with a 26-11 win over the Miami Dolphins. It was an inconsistent game for the Bills, who misfired a lot in the first half, but kept the score tight in the first half and showed a victorious performance in the second half.

The Bills started a little rusty and went in threes on their inaugural trip. Josh Allen missed a free speed camera and had to escape from the pocket on the right. He probably had a kick on the rusher and had Stefon Diggs wide open in front of him, but knocked the receiver over. That was the first sign of Buffalo fighting to come.

It seemed like the Bills were about to force a quick punt after the first few Dolphins games went well for them, but Tua Tagovailoa hit DeVante Parker with a jump ball to keep her drive going. Miami would eventually mat the ball up to the Buffalo 18-yard line, but Jason Sanders pulled his field goal attempt far to the left and it wasn’t good.

Buffalo’s next drive didn’t start well as Devin Singletary faced a loss in the first game. Two games later, the Bills were called to a false start. But Allen climbed free in third place for 34 yards and put the Bills on Miami’s side of the field. But Allen tried a harmless deep pass, and the Bills picked two running plays that got nowhere with the second and third down. Buffalo opted for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The Bills punted Miami on their next drive, an eight-play drive that only won 21 yards. But Miami responded by stopping the Bills offensive for their own punt, and it was a shame. Matt Haack only sent the ball 19 yards, so it only took a good profit to get the Dolphins into the field goal area. The Bills defense kept them there, but Miami separated the game 3-3.

The offensive inability continued and the Bills struggled to block and make solid profits. A couple of checkdowns and scripts got the Bills into Miami Territory in the two-minute drill, but Josh Allen misplayed a fourth and four calls, eventually demanding deliberate grounding. That gave the Dolphins new life and a favorable field position, and they got close to the Buffalo end zone before half time. Fortunately for the Bills, a botched game led to a fumble that Micah Hyde picked up and blocked all points.

The Bills straightened the ship after half time. Miami came with three threes-and-outs on the first three possession of the ball in the second half. The Bills offensive had its own three and out, but finally found its rhythm on the next trip. The spark plug was Cole Beasley, who kept finding openings for quick catches. At one point, Allen targeted Beasley five times in six games. That success helped Allen loosen up and resulted in a touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis that put the Bills back in the lead.

After Miami’s punt, the Bills had another strong drive. Again, Beasley was the star with two catches for 31 yards. On 2nd and 10th of Miami 19, the Dolphins attempted a cover-0 flash, but Allen read it and threaded Stefon Diggs the needle for a touchdown. After going into halftime with an ugly 3-3 draw, the Bills were now 17-3 ahead and feeling much better.

Two points behind in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins were unwilling to turn and die. Tagovailoa had his best drive of the day, with a 40-yard pass for Mike Gesicki as a highlight. Two games later, he buried his head and dug into the end zone for the touchdown. A successful two-point conversion reduced the lead to 17-11.

The Bills then uncorked a classic vintage of clock-killing with a 14-play, 59-yard drive that ate six minutes of the clock for the remaining fourth quarter. Forcing Miami to use up every time out, they ended up with a field goal that increased their lead to two goals, 20-11.

Miami, forced into desperate mode, needed big games to make a comeback, and that is exactly what the Bills had been hoping for. Jordan Poyer timed a Tagovailoa pass perfectly and picked it up until he ran back to Miami 11 with a naked bootleg, running into the end zone for his third touchdown of the day. The Bills attempted a two-point conversion for #analytics, but the snap wasn’t handled properly and Buffalo had to settle for the 26-11 lead. Miami took possession but had to run the clock.

The Bills got the ship upright before goodbye after a disappointing loss to the Titans, and 5-2 they’re back in the right range of AFC sowing. They hope to be able to build a new winning streak against the Jaguars from next week.

Injury report

• Halfway through the third quarter, Cole Beasley needed help from the training staff after it was tackled. Maybe he was just out of breath as this was his fifth catch in a row on the trip. He came back and played the rest of the game.
• A few games later, Zack Moss seemed upset after a run and preferred his right arm as he jogged off the field. He was out about a quarter but returned to the game in the fourth quarter.
• Jon Feliciano suffered some sort of lower body injury at the end of the game. It wasn’t clear what it was, but it kept him from the last couple of games.

Fast hits

• It took the Dolphins 95 games and 82 minutes to score points against the Bills, reflecting their week 17 win last season. Buffalo ruled Miami out in their first meeting today and held a shutout through the middle of the second quarter today.
• Another streak ended: Buffalo’s NFL record streak of 15 games with a lead at halftime ended in a 3-3 draw. It’s time to look up the NFL record for “don’t lose” at halftime.
• And another streak that came to an end – after 128 offensive games, the Dolphins finally scored a touchdown against the Bills, their first since last year.
• Buffalo’s special teams: If it’s good, it’s really good. And when it’s bad, it’s really bad. Congratulations to Tyler Bass for scoring a 57-yard field goal, and no praise for Matt Haack (19-yard shanked punt) or Isaiah McKenzie (muffed punt near the end zone, luckily restored as a touchback).
• Do you think the Bills will reconsider their decision to replace three players (Boettger, Feliciano and Williams) instead of one player (Spencer Brown) on offense today?
• The Bills missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an onside kick after taking the 10-3 lead. Miami was called to a 15-yard penalty that set the Bills’ kicking unit in midfield. You could have attempted a short kick with very little risk of field position. Instead, they opted for a pop fly near the end zone.
• A great day for Cole Beasley, who walked 110 yards for the sixth time in his career. He also counted ten catches for the fourth time. Allen took aim at him five times for four catches on the team’s first touchdown drive and used it to add some rhythm on the offensive.
• Great job by Tre’Davious White who was a shutdown corner practically all day. He broke off two passports.
• Ed Oliver also had a stellar game on defense, with a TFL and multiple QB prints.
• Josh Allen must have listened to the statheads this week as he made sure he turned 28. This is what connects him the most with Cam Newton in the first 50 games of a QB.
• The Bills were dramatically behind in possession time at halftime, but were able to regain the lead at the end of the game.
• Another great day for the Buffalo security duo. Both players had turnover – Micah Hyde a fumble recovery and Jordan Poyer an interception.

Next week

The Bills will travel to Florida to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars, currently 1-5, began battling the Seattle Seahawks at 4:05 p.m. this afternoon.

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