Josh Allen threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Stefon Diggs, and the Buffalo Bills emphatically handed the Miami Dolphins their first loss of the season, 48-20, on Sunday.
The Bills outplayed the Dolphins on all sides of the ball in the AFC East clash in Orchard Park, New York, and Allen engineered the push. After throwing for 320 yards in the win, he touched on how determined the locker room was heading into the game.
“I thought our guys were very locked in on details this week in terms of gameplans-specific things, and just making sure we’re having a good presence in our locker room. At the end of the day it’s one game,” said Allen, whose club improved to 3-1. “There was a heck of a gameplan, and our guys went out there and did it, we have more we’re going to have to learn from a lot from this tape and find ways to get better there’s a lot out there and we’ll focus on correcting those things.”
Bills coach Sean McDermott concurred.
“The players did a phenomenal job. At the end of the day, the players execute at a very very high level,” he said. “It came down to fundamentals. I’m very proud of the way they played complimentary-wise and effort-wise as well.”
The Dolphins offense picked up where it left off last week — in the 70-20 win over the Denver Broncos — with consecutive touchdowns to open the game. As it progressed, stalled drives became the norm. There were two turnovers and three punts, and the Bills took advantage.
“There were a lot of communication errors on my part,” said Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who threw for 282 yards and a touchdown in the loss. “I’ve got to be better with that aspect of the game for our guys, and not put the guys into those situations, and that’s really what the game turned out to be.
“It was really stopping ourselves on first down, guys not knowing where to go because of formational issues with what was communicated in the huddle and things like that. So, it’s on my part to be better for those guys in the locker room.”
The Bills scored on seven of their first nine possessions, committing zero turnovers in the process. The Dolphins defense, looking to build on the beatdown last week in their home opener, could not stop the high-powered Bills offense at their house, on the ground or through the air.
“I would be lying if I was pumped about anything from our team today. I think the National Football League is a very humbling game. If you’re not on your stuff and you’re playing a team that is, this will happen. My view is that there are natural curves of learning as you install any system,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “However, there is nothing to be justified with the point differential for our team. I think it’s a disservice to our team to lose by four (touchdowns) and that I made clear to the team.”
Miami’s poor tackling, lack of forcing turnovers and committing eight penalties totaling 98 yards, added to the downfall. The Dolphins beat themselves on the road while facing a deficit and lack of execution.
The Dolphins (3-1), now tied for first place in the AFC East with the Bills, will look to bounce back on Sunday when they face the New York Giants at Hard Rock Stadium. The Giants (1-2) play on Monday night at home vs. the Seattle Seahawks (2-1) before making the trip to Miami Gardens.
