Heartbreak in Buffalo. Another Miami Dolphins game ends with a game-winning field goal, as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27 on Sunday, dropping the Dolphins to a lowly 2-6 on the season.
Sunday’s loss is especially hard to swallow because the Dolphins mostly played well enough to win. They held Buffalo’s offense in check during the first half and had an awesome offensive game plan that they actually committed to for four quarters.
Tua Tagovailoa had one of the better games of his career and even came up with two game-tying drives in the fourth quarter, but it just wasn’t enough.
The defense collapsed in the second half for a second straight week, and the offense had a few key errors (Mostert’s fumble) that led to the loss.
Overall, the Dolphins probably played their best football of the season and still came up short. That’s just the kind of season it’s been so far. Let’s dive into the All-22 to see how Miami hung with arguably the AFC’s best team before coming up slightly short.
Dolphins All-22 Review vs. Bills
Bully Ball
The Miami Dolphins running game has been the best facet of the offense all season, and that didn’t change on Sunday. The Dolphins ran the ball 31 times for 149 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
If you remove Tua’s two carries for 3 yards, Miami averaged more than five yards per carry against Buffalo. The Dolphins used a solid mix of zone and gap runs to create running lanes for De’Von Achane, Raheem Mostert, and Jaylen Wright.
Mike McDaniel knows how to scheme up the running game, but he’s failed to commit to it throughout his coaching tenure. That wasn’t a problem on Sunday. Miami finished with 31 runs compared to 28 passing attempts.
A lot of Miami’s success on the ground came courtesy of an offensive line group that has played relatively well this season.
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
This was one of Miami’s best-blocked running plays from Sunday and the start of its 97-yard touchdown drive. The Dolphins line up in the I-formation and run Smythe across on split-zone action.
As far as I can tell, this is just normal inside the zone, but it’s blocked so well at so many levels. Watch Austin Jackson come off the ball and collapse the right side of the line. That gives Alec Ingold a clear path to the second level, allowing him to take out the linebacker.
There’s nothing fancy about any of this, but the Dolphins spent the entire offseason talking about how they needed to be a tougher team when running the ball. Despite their 2-6 record, the offensive line has largely held up its end of the bargain.
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
While the Dolphins have gotten tougher, they’re still an athletic bunch up front. Aaron Brewer is playing Pro Bowl-caliber football this season, especially considering what he adds to the running game.
The clip above is an excellent example of what Brewer’s athletic profile can add to the running game. Watch him snap the ball and get across the field to seal off a rushing lane for Mostert. The way Brewer grabs the linebacker and turns his back to the sideline is teach-tape stuff.
Most NFL centers are not that fast in space to wall that lane off, but Brewer has been a consistent bright spot in this area all season.
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
This last run includes some of everything we’ve discussed so far. This formation is a little more creative as the Dolphins line up Alec Ingold and Tyreek Hill at H-back to the same side. Ingold works a wham block on the 3-tech, allowing Brewer to climb up.
Brewer seals his man at the second level, and Austin Jackson basically makes Smythe’s block for him on the right side. Ingold’s motion and the guards pulling to the left side got Buffalo’s defense to take one step the wrong way, leaving a gigantic hole for Achane.
The blocking and scheme came together perfectly on this rep, generating an explosive play inside the red zone.
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
It’s not all sunshine and roses for the Dolphins’ running game, though. As we’ve discussed at various points this season, Miami’s non-offensive line blockers have not played well. The receivers have blocked better recently, but the tight ends continue to struggle.
Without Julian Hill in the lineup, Smythe was asked to do a lot of work in the running game, and he’s mostly a liability out there. The rep above is not an easy ask for a tight end, but Smythe barely puts up a fight, leading to a run stuff on a third and 1.
Smythe has survived because the team doesn’t emphasize tight end, but they should consider doing that this offseason because they ask the tight ends to make a lot of critical blocks. Hill is a solid backup, but Smythe isn’t, and neither should be starting at the in-line spot.
Another Defensive Collapse
It was again a tale of two halves for Miami’s defense on Sunday. The Dolphins held the Bills to six points in the first half (with the help of the refs) before giving up 24 points in the second half.
In fact, from a big-picture perspective, this game looked almost identical to the one against the Cardinals. The Dolphins were missing their best players, couldn’t tackle in space, and were on the receiving end of an elite quarterback performance.
The big change was how Miami ran its coverages. The Dolphins are a primary Cover 3 team, and that didn’t change on Sunday. However, they ran their highest percentage of Quarters against the Bills.
They were not giving up big plays through the air. pic.twitter.com/Gzy1Dchuxb
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
Quarters roughly looks like the rep above, where the outside corners and deep safeties create an umbrella on the defense, helping prevent big plays in the passing game. Look how deep Miami’s secondary and linebackers get.
The defense was darring Josh Allen to take checkdown all game, and he essentially did. Allen’s passing chart is hardly impressive, but it’s what Buffalo needed on Sunday.
This approach makes sense for a Dolphins team missing its best pass rushers and two starting secondary members (Kader Kohou and Jevon Holland). Still, this approach only works if the team can tackle in space.
The defense held up enough in the first half. However, as the game progressed, some cracks started to show, like on Ray Davis’ long touchdown catch.
Tackling, though? Yikes. pic.twitter.com/Fp9SoQizkp
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
The Dolphins sent five after Allen and are in man coverage on the backend. Buffalo runs a mesh concept, which is excellent against man. I’m unsure if the left-side edge rusher is supposed to take the running back or if the safety (Marcus Maye) is supposed to fill in since the edge is blitzing.
Regardless, neither happens, as nobody picks up Davis until he gets into the open field. Typically, you could just chalk this up to the Bills having a good play call for Miami’s blitz — it happens.
We can’t do that, though, because Maye whiffs on his tackle, and it goes for a long touchdown. This is the example everyone will point to, but many missed tackles are scattered throughout the defense’s tape.
Josh Allen’s aDot was 3.6 yards, and he still had 235 yards passing. That doesn’t happen unless some short throws break free for significant gains.
The other similarity to last week’s game was how ineffective Miami’s blitzing was. Kyler Murray shredded the Dolphins blitz a week ago, and Allen did the same.
The Dolphins blitzed Allen on 11 dropbacks. On those plays, he was 7-of-10 for 97 yards and all three of his touchdowns. He also threw an interception, which should’ve been a fourth touchdown, given that it hit Keon Coleman in the hands twice.
It’s easy to sit here and tell the Dolphins to stop blitzing. However, that’s a slippery slope. Miami can’t get pressure with four pass rushers because of personnel pitfalls.
The team’s three best pass rushers, Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and Zach Sieler, are injured. If the Dolphins don’t blitz, they’ll give opposing quarterbacks infinite time to carve up a secondary that is also missing players.
It’s a lose-lose situation for defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. It’s even harder when one of the blitzes resulted in this:
Enough with Josh Allen, man. pic.twitter.com/i6TKUku5QG
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 4, 2024
Ultimately, the Dolphins’ defense isn’t a mess. It’s an undermanned unit with zero room for error that is getting poor individual play in critical moments. How much are we complaining about the defense if Jordan Poyer doesn’t headbutt Keon Coleman at the end of the game?
Eventually, the pendulum will likely swing back the other way, especially as the team gets healthier.
