The Miami Dolphins welcomed the Buffalo Bills into Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night for the second of two matchups between these two teams, and the visiting team handed Miami a 21-14 loss.
Both offenses started a bit slow, as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception on their first drive, and Josh Allen threw two on their first two.
Miami found success in the second quarter, as they started leaning on the run. De’Von Achane found the end zone on a 25-yard score. He and Jeff Wilson ran the ball well all day, rushing for 101 yards on 5.3 yards per carry.
It’s when the Dolphins started to force the pass in the second half that they struggled. They were forced to punt on their first four possessions after the break, and one of them was returned 96 yards by Deonte Harty for a touchdown.
Tagovailoa finished his day completing just 62.9% of his passes for 173 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown, which he threw to Tyreek Hill. Hill was, once again, the quarterback’s favorite target, as he brought in seven receptions for 82 yards and the score.
Outside of a nice play by Cedrick Wilson Jr., Tagovailoa’s weapons didn’t do much else.
They had an opportunity to tie or win the game late, but Tagovailoa threw an interception.
On the defensive side of things, the Dolphins entered the game without their top two edge rushers and cornerback Xavien Howard. Then, in the game, they lost Andrew Van Ginkel and Cameron Goode on the edge, and their losses hurt significantly.
Allen, outside of the two picks, looked great, completing 78.9% of his passes for 359 yards. He also took over the game with his legs, rushing for 67 yards to keep the defense honest.
Miami did a solid job against the other runners, holding James Cook, Leonard Fournette and Ty Johnson to just 61 yards on 2.9 yards per attempt.
Allen spread the ball to Khalil Shakir, Stefon Diggs and Dalton Kincaid, who all recorded at least six receptions for 80 yards. He also hit Trent Sherfield for a touchdown on a ball that was batted at the line.
With the exception of Howard, at some point, the Dolphins’ defense isn’t getting any reinforcements, so they’ll need to step up and perform better in the playoffs, which start next week.
