“Playoffs, we’re not worried about that. We’re worried about who the next opponent is and trying to win out.”
Those were the simple, succinct words of Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, after a last-second field goal haunted the Dolphins yet again on Sunday. Last week, it was at home to the Arizona Cardinals. This week, it was on the road, where they fell to the Buffalo Bills, 30-27, in a key AFC East matchup.
Both offenses went back and forth in the second half in Orchard Park, N.Y., but on the last possession, a third-down penalty on the Miami defense saved Buffalo’s game-winning drive, which ended with Tyler Bass’ 61-yard field goal.
With the loss, Miami dropped to 2-6, failing to defeat Buffalo (7-2) in the sixth straight installment of this rivalry. The Dolphins now sit five games behind the division lead, and three games back of the last wild card spot in the AFC.
“Problem is, we pretty much put ourselves in a position where our margin for error is zero” defensive tackle Calais Campbell said.
Since the NFL changed its playoff format to seven teams from each conference advancing, only one team has made the wild-card round with more than seven losses, the 2022-2023 Miami Dolphins. With six losses already in the bank, theoretically, the Dolphins could lose just one more.
“It’s a tough divisional loss, one that guys strained to try to get,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said. “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.”
The Dolphins, who received a second straight strong performance from Tagovailoa in his return from the injured reserve list, are persistent that they need to take everything week by week, and handle it one opponent at a time. And that can start next week, when they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams (4-4) on Monday Night Football.
That will be Tagovailoa’s third game back, and on Sunday, he finished with 231 yards and two touchdowns through the air in the loss.
“I thought Tua played one of his best games since we’ve been working together,” McDaniel said.
He wasn’t alone. The Miami running backs set the tone, behind Tagovailoa, again, as the tandem of De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert combined for 22 carries, 119 rushing yards, 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Star wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle also got in on the action, Hill with 80 receiving yards and Waddle getting in the end zone for the first time this season.
“Looking at an opponent that loves to double (Hill) and (Waddle), you can either try to split the double or get an assist,” McDaniel said, referring to Tagovailoa spreading the ball around on Sunday.
Despite the promising performance from the Miami offense, two aspects led to the result: penalties and lack of defense late. Just like last week, in the 28-27 loss to the Cardinals, those two factors ruined a well-executed gameplan from the Dolphins.
Miami finished the loss with eight penalties for 57 yards. And Jordan Poyer, a former Bills defensive back, committed an unnecessary roughness penalty on third and long during Buffalo’s final drive. It gave the home team a free first down, when the Bills likely would’ve punted the ball with just more than a minute remaining.
“It takes it out of everyone’s hands when you go helmet to helmet,” McDaniel said of Poyer’s hit.
It was a second half to forget on defense, overall, as Miami allowed 24 points after halftime, after holding the Bills to just six points in the first half. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen only had 79 passing yards through two quarters, while throwing an interception as well, but he rebounded with authority in the third and fourth quarters.
In fact, he posted 156 second-half passing yards, and three touchdowns, showing real signs that the Dolphins defense needs to figure out its issues fast.
“This is the ball that we want to show on Sundays,” Tagovailoa said about his offense, before referring to his entire team, when he added, “but there’s a lot of things we’re going to have to clean up.”
