Dolphins Narrowly Lose to the Bills
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BUFFALO, NY (PSF)- The Miami Dolphins lost 34-31 against division opponent Buffalo Bills in a Wild Card game on Sunday. The Bills were heavily favored coming into this game, the line being set at -14 according to CBS Sports. Buffalo has the second highest odds to win the Super Bowl at +400 according to Fox Sports. The current favorite is the Chiefs at +320. Given these high hopes for the Bills, it was pretty surprising that the game was as close as it was. Buffalo jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and then added a field goal early in the second quarter to make the score 17-0.
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The Dolphins roared back with three straight field goals and a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki. Miami had suddenly scored 17 unanswered points to tie it up at 17-17. The game would be competitive from then on, both teams exchanging touchdowns back and forth. After the Bills went up 34-24 on a 23-yard TD by Gabe Davis, the Dolphins were able to counter with a one-yard TD run by Jeff Wilson with 10:53 remaining in the fourth quarter to make it 31-34. After that, the Dolphins failed to score again. Miami was plagued by dropped passes and delay of game penalties, especially late in the game.
These reoccurring delay of game penalties became a bigger problem for the Dolphins when they had lost all their timeouts late in the game because of having to use timeouts earlier for….previous delay of game calls. This mistake hurt the Dolphins badly. The main mistake from the Dolphins this game was on fourth-and-one near midfield late in the fourth quarter. Coach Mike McDaniel thought that they had picked up the first down on the previous play, he then learned that was not the case and sent in different personnel for this crucial play with just over two minutes to go in the game. What would be too familiar in this game is the Dolphins would line up with too little time left on the clock for the offense to get set, and would not get the play off. That made it fourth-and-six and QB Skylar Thompson’s pass fell incomplete to Gesicki. That sealed the deal for a Miami loss.
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Now, would the Dolphins have won this game if this mistakes were corrected? It’s not quite clear. It certainly would have helped not to have all these penalties add up and to have less drops by Miami receivers. However, the Dolphins still had a chance to take the lead down three late in the fourth and they ultimately failed to do so. The team was in a tough spot coming into this game. They did not have their starting QB, or even their backup QB. They had their 3rd-string QB Skylar Thompson. He did have two interceptions after all and went 18-45, a completion rate of 40%. On the other side, Josh Allen went 23-39, a completion rate of 58% although he also threw two interceptions. Asking a rookie 3rd-string QB to go on the road and win a playoff game is a tough thing to do (except if you’re Brock Purdy). Despite the noticeable mistakes that the Dolphins made in this game, this was a surprising and overall gutsy game from them.
Some questions can be asked coming out of this game for the Bills. Does the close margin of this victory decrease confidence in them as one of the Super Bowl favorites? Are they going to be able to keep a lead going forward in these playoffs? How does this close game against a weaker team bode for them against stronger teams in later rounds? Despite these possible worries, this team is still led by Josh Allen, the QB with the 2nd highest QBR this season and 2nd in TDs thrown. This team is talented all around. Not only does Buffalo have one of the greatest QBs, they have one of the greatest WRs in Stefon Diggs and a top ten TE in Dawson Knox. When this team plays at its best, they are certainly one of the strongest teams in these playoffs. It is just a matter of if the Bills are going to be able to elevate their play in the later rounds.