The Miami Dolphins came into Buffalo as heavy underdogs against the all-mighty Buffalo Bills, who some people feel are the best team in the league. People were saying this week how the Dolphins were going to get beat badly, and the Bills will be resting players in the second half. Some people on ESPN were acting like the Dolphins should apologize for being in the playoffs and that the Pittsburgh Steelers would have given the Bills a better game because the Dolphins had their 3rd string quarterback rookie Skyler Thompson starting for an injured Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater. But that’s why they play the game. 

It looked ugly early as the Bills jumped to a 17-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. It looked like the experts were right. I thought about turning the game off. However, the Dolphins chipped away at the Bills and got back into the game to make it 20-17 at halftime. The Dolphins came up with some timely turnovers and even had a 50-yard punt return to help put the offense in position to score some points. Going into the game, that’s what the Dolphins had to do if they were going to have any chance to win the game. 

I said the defense was going to have to play the game of the season to have any chance, and they didn’t look that way in the 1st quarter, but they adjusted and settled down. As I said last week, the Dolphins had gotten pressures on opposing quarterbacks but not sacks, and at some point, that had to change. Well, it did change as the Dolphins sacked Josh Allen 7 times. Yes, seven times. I don’t think the Dolphins had gotten more than three sacks on him in a game since he came into the league. With sacks come turnovers and the Dolphins got 3 in the game, including a sack and fumble that turned into a scoop and score by Zach Sieler to give the Dolphins a 24-20 lead in the 3rd quarter. I hadn’t seen this all season, and the Dolphins came up big on defense. Frankly, it was one of my biggest frustrations with this team this year. The Dolphins have talent on defense, but they haven’t been playing up to their potential, and it was even close. 

Even the special teams were a bright spot today, and they had been bad all season long with their kick coverage teams and lack of reliable returners. Yet, Cedrick Wilson came up with a huge return to set up a field goal. The Bills didn’t get anything in the return game after returning two kickoffs for touchdowns last week. If there was one area where the Bills had a clear advantage in this game, it was special teams, but the Dolphins were better in this area. 

However, the offense didn’t make enough plays. They only had 231 yards in total offense and were outgained by almost 200 yards. Yet, the Dolphins still had a chance to win the game or at least send the game to overtime late in the 4th quarter. I would have thought the Dolphins had gotten blown out if you had told me this before the game. The Dolphins did have some dropped passes, including one by Jaylen Waddle on their 2nd offense play that went off of his hands, and it would have been a big gain and put the Dolphins in a scoring position early in the game. There were other drops by Hill, Jeff Wilson, and Tyreek Hill; some of them were drive-killers that could have helped the team out. Thompson had two interceptions, including one in the 3rd quarter on a 3rd and 19 in their own territory that turned the momentum of the game, and the Bills scored. The Bills went up 34-24 in the 4th quarter, but the Dolphins came up with a touchdown drive to cut the lead to 34-31. Then the Dolphins were able to get the ball back and around mid-field with less than 3 minutes, but they had a delay of game penalty that killed them, and they couldn’t convert a 4th down play, and the game was over. The offense couldn’t come up with one more play to extend this game with a rookie quarterback and a makeshift offensive line. 

The pain of this loss is going to be felt all off-season. Yes, the Dolphins played with a lot of grit with a rookie quarterback and a banged-up offense, and we should feel proud of the team’s efforts, and I am. However, this is a game the Dolphins could have and should have won. It would have been the biggest upset in wild card history. The Bills fans were so quiet and probably crapping their pants with uneasiness wondering how the Dolphins could come into our house with a rookie quarterback and banged up and be on the verge of stealing this game. Nobody realistically saw this game going this way. In the end the Dolphins came up one game short and our bitter rival is moving on. The Dolphins are going to feel the pain of knowing they should have won this game if they had made one more play. 

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