The Dolphins score a lot, but defense can’t stop Bills offense as team falls short 30-27

The Miami Dolphins came into Highmark Stadium with nothing to lose.

Sure, they haven’t beat the Buffalo Bills in upstate New York since 2016, but at 2-5, the Dolphins needed a win to stay afloat in the playoff race. And they might have won if not for Tyler Bass, who hit a 61-yard field goal with less than 10 seconds remaining to lift the Buffalo Bills over the Dolphins 30-27.

““A 64-yard field goal?” Calais Campbell said. “I like my chances nine times out of 10. He just made that one.”

This marked the second consecutive week that the Dolphins lost on go-ahead field goal in the game’s final moments. The Arizona Cardinals beat the Dolphins 28-27 last Sunday on a Matt Prater field goal as time expired.

“Two-minute game when they need a field goal to win it, you got to get stops,” Campbell said. “Last week, it’s a lot different. It was a high-probability field goal so this week, I think we got the stop that you really want and made it tough on them. He just made it a heck of a play.”

Despite an efficient day for Tua Tagovailoa and the offense, the Dolphins defense just couldn’t stop Josh Allen in the second half as the Bills scored on all four of their positions, including three touchdowns. Tagovailoa completed 25 of 28 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns as well as two rushes for 3 yards. Allen completed roughly 64% of his passes for 235 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

“There was a lot of guys involved by intention, and I thought Tua played one of his best games since we’ve been working together,” coach Mike McDaniel said.

After swapping field goals to start the game, the Bills took it down the field to the red zone, setting up one of Miami’s best sequences of the year. With the ball on the Miami 11-yard line, Allen fired a pass to rookie receiver Keon Coleman who had run a slant. The ball bounced off of Coleman’s shoulder pads, allowing Jalen Ramsey snatch it out of the air for his first interception of the year.

Then came arguably the best Dolphins drive of the year. After the interception, Miami proceeded to go 97 yards — in large part due to their rushing attack that accounted more than 70 yards — to score on a touchdown on a De’Von Achane screen to go up 10-3. The Bills would kick a field goal just before halftime to cut the Dolphins’ lead to 10-6.

After only 16 points in the first half, both offenses came out firing in the second, scoring a combined 41 points.

“It’s a tough divisional loss, one that guys strained to try to get but in this place, if you turn the ball over — which we had one — they have a very high percentage of winning and it’s tough to overcome that,” McDaniel said.

The Dolphins were hampered by a costly turnover at the start of the second half. With the ball in Buffalo territory and the run game still cooking, Raheem Mostert was stripped of the ball by Taron Johnson. The Bills would score on the subsequent possession — a 1-yard catch from Mack Hollins on fourth down — beginning a streak of three consecutive touchdown drives for the Bills.

“I thought he was running really well,” McDaniel said of Mostert, who finished the day with 10 carries for 56 yards and two catches for 32 yards. “We talk about it all the time but defenders from pursuit – the guys you can’t see – are what you’re most vulnerable to, and he’s got to fix that.”

The Dolphins’ streak of at least 150 rushing yards halted at three games after falling one yard shy. Achane added 12 rushes for 63 yards a touchdown while Jaylen Wright and Malik Washington contributed 18 and 9 yards, respectively. Achane, the second-year back out of Texas A&M also added eight catches for 58 yards a touchdown.

Despite Tagovailoa completing roughly 89% of his passes, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle weren’t super involved until the second half. Hill finished with four catches for 80 yards while Waddle had just two catches and a touchdown, though the Alabama receiver being tackled behind the line of scrimmage on the final drive of the game ultimately contributed to his yardage (-4).

“This is the ball that we want to show on Sundays but there’s a lot of things we’re going to have to clean up,” Tagovailoa said.

The Dolphins had a chance to prevent Bass’ go-ahead field goal on the Bills’ game-winning drive. Chop Robinson’s first sack of the year came on that final Bills drive. One incomplete pass later and it was third-and-14. Unfortunately, the mental mistakes once again reared their ugly head.

First, Robinson lined up in the neutral zone for a 5-yard penalty. On the next play, Allen chucked up a deep ball to Coleman whom veteran safety Jordan Poyer hit above the numbers as the rookie attempted the catch. A flag was thrown as the referees hit Poyer with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.

“I thought it was a clean play,” Poyer said after the game, later adding “I felt like I hit him right where I was supposed to hit him. Apparently, the ref didn’t think so they called it. It is what it is.”

At 2-6, the Dolphins face a very tough road ahead if they want to even begin to think about the postseason. Tagovailoa, however, plans to take it just one game at a time.

“We’re not worried about anything else but the next opponent,” Tagovailoa said. “Playoffs, any of that — we’re not worried about any of that. We’re worried about who the next opponent is and we’re trying to win out.”